Qatar's healthcare sector treated 51,809 patients throughout FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 as part of the successful delivery of medical services to host the tournament. The scale of the healthcare service for the tournament was vast, spanning approximately 100 FIFA World Cup competition and non-competition sites, with 113 clinics, 114 ambulances, 212 mobile medical units and 2,275 staff members providing support.
Chair of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Health Strategic Command Group, Dr Ahmed al-Mohamed, highlighted the collaborative efforts of the entire healthcare system in supporting a safe and healthy tournament. “FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is the largest sports event ever hosted in Qatar and our success in delivering high-quality medical services throughout the tournament was due to the joint efforts of multiple healthcare organisations across Qatar, including the Ministry of Public Health, Hamad Medical Corporation, Primary Health Care Corporation, Aspetar, Sidra Medicine, Qatar Red Crescent Society, Qatar Armed Forces, Ministry of Interior, QatarEnergy Health Services and many private healthcare providers.”
“A key principle of our strategy was to enable easy access to high-quality medical care for fans. This meant providing services in the locations visited most frequently by local and international fans and tournament participants. To enable us to achieve this aim, we set up multiple medical clinics across the FIFA World Cup football stadiums, fan zones, training grounds and key accommodation sites, as well as providing emergency and urgent care services within our existing healthcare facilities,” Dr al-Mohamed added.
More than 80 medical clinics were set up across the eight FIFA World Cup football stadiums. Throughout the tournament, healthcare teams provided a broad set of services within each of the stadiums on match days. This included: up to 13 medical clinics located within and around each stadium; two specialised field of play medical teams for each match; medical teams and ambulances dedicated for players; and emergency services, including up to 31 mobile medical teams and eight ambulances per stadium.
Dedicated walk-in units for fans with urgent, but non-emergency care needs were also established in hospitals across the country at Hamad General Hospital, Aisha Bint Hamad Al Attiyah Hospital, Al Wakra Hospital and Hazm Mebaireek General Hospital, with more than 6,000 patients benefitting from these dedicated units.
With 1.4mn football fans from across the world visiting Qatar for the FIFA World Cup, Hamad Medical Corporation’s Ambulance Service put plans in place to enable it to respond to a higher volume of calls than normal. As well as continuing to provide a full range of high-quality services to Qatar’s local population throughout the tournament, the Ambulance Service responded to more than 4,000 World Cup related calls.
Dr Abdulwahab al-Musleh, deputy executive director of Medical Affairs, HMC, and FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 chief medical officer, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, explained that the multiple clinics set up within World Cup sites was a key factor in the success of the healthcare provision.
“By establishing medical clinics at the World Cup sites, we achieved two key aims. Firstly, we were able to ensure fans had easy access to medical care close to where it was needed, and secondly, we were able to reduce the number of fans visiting hospitals and health centres, enabling the local population to continue receiving routine medical services without disruption. Throughout the tournament, our medical teams treated more than 33,000 patients at approximately 100 competition and non-competition sites, with the majority receiving care for minor injuries and medical conditions,” Dr al-Musleh explained.
