Bahrain has some of the best healthcare services in the world, according to a new global quality of life index.

Numbeo, the world’s largest database of user-generated content about cities and countries, found that only Japan was better in terms of overall quality of the healthcare system, healthcare professionals, equipment, staff, doctors and level of cost, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Using data collated from online surveys – not official government reports – the site found that Bahrain was 21 places ahead of the UK and 15 ranks higher than its nearest GCC rival Qatar, which was placed 17th in the world in terms of healthcare.

Meanwhile, Kuwait came 42nd – on par with India and Singapore – while Saudi Arabia was 53rd, the UAE 63rd and Oman was not listed.

Bahrain Medical Society president Dr Mohammed Abdulla Rafie welcomed the fact that the country’s healthcare system was being internationally recognised.

“Bahrain provides quality primary and secondary healthcare in comparison with other countries,” he said.

“We provide free medical services to citizens, including some of the best medicines and expatriates, have to pay less for operations.

“The medical equipment used by healthcare workers are also modern and all of this is reflected in the prestigious healthcare the country offers.”

Bahrain also ranked as safer than the UK and Australia in The Numbeo Quality of Life Index 2015, being placed at 38th safest country in the world.

It was only one place behind New Zealand and 11 places ahead of Kuwait, but trailed behind Saudi Arabia by 10 places, while the UAE ranked ninth and Qatar sixth in terms of safety.

The safest country in the world, according to the index, is Singapore.

Overall, Bahrain ranked 47th in the world for quality of life – behind Saudi (12th), the UAE (18th), Qatar (20th) and Kuwait (29th).

The reason for this is mostly down to levels of pollution, as the index found that Bahrain was the eighth most polluted country in the world – second only to Qatar among GCC nations.

“Currently, we put the highest weight on pollution – if the environment is too polluted, then the economy or safety cannot counterbalance it,” said Numbeo in a statement.

“We put the second highest level of importance on safety, since it is more important to feel safe rather than wealthy, in our opinion.”

Switzerland came on top of the rankings for countries participating in the quality of life index, topping the purchasing power and consumer price index categories.

Meanwhile, Venezuela was found to have the worst quality of life, followed by Mongolia and Vietnam. - TradeArabia News Service