Lebanon remains a healthcare leader in the Arab world

Lebanon ranks among the top Arab countries in healthcare, placing third regionally after Qatar and the UAE, and 44th worldwide, according to the Health Care Experience Index 2026. In a country better known lately for institutional collapse, Lebanon’s continued ranking among the top healthcare systems in the Arab world is both surprising and telling.

Unlike metrics that focus strictly on government spending or hospital capacity, these rankings emphasize patient experience: how easily people can access specialists, how long they wait for treatment, and how confident they feel in the care they receive. In Lebanon, where private healthcare dominates, patients often benefit from relatively quick access to doctors, modern diagnostic tools, and internationally trained specialists, even as public healthcare systems struggle.

This hybrid model, built largely on private hospitals and clinics, has allowed healthcare services to remain functional despite repeated economic shocks. It is not necessarily equitable, but it remains operational and, in many cases, highly advanced.

A medical hub long before the crises

Lebanon’s reputation as a regional medical center predates its recent crises by decades. From the 1960s through the early 2000s, Beirut and Mount Lebanon were destinations for patients from the Gulf, Iraq, Syria, and North Africa seeking specialized care. Fields such as cardiology, oncology, fertility medicine, and cosmetic surgery became regional reference points.

Lebanese medical schools and teaching hospitals developed strong links with European and American institutions, producing generations of doctors who trained abroad and returned with global medical standards. This international exposure continues to shape clinical practices today.

The numbers behind the system

According to WHO and World Bank data, before the financial collapse, Lebanon had one of the highest hospital bed-to-population ratios in the region, with over 28 beds per 10,000 people, significantly higher than many neighboring countries. The country also had more than 160 hospitals, most of them privately operated, and a high density of physicians relative to population size.

Even after waves of medical emigration, Lebanon still maintains a concentration of specialized practitioners uncommon for a country of its size. Many hospitals continue to offer advanced procedures and technologies that remain inaccessible in much of the region.

Surviving the economic freefall

Since 2019, hospitals have faced severe shortages of funding, medication, and medical equipment. Salaries collapsed, pushing thousands of nurses and doctors to seek work abroad. Yet the system did not fully collapse. Instead, it adapted through a mix of international aid, NGO partnerships, partial dollarization of services, and internal restructuring.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been one of the main pillars keeping public hospitals functional, especially after the economic collapse and Beirut port explosion. In October 2024, WHO launched a Flash Appeal for USD 50 million to sustain urgent health interventions over six months, in alignment with the UN Flash Appeal. Concurrently, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), WHO, and partners developed a comprehensive health sector roadmap to address immediate humanitarian needs, facilitate early recovery, and build long-term resilience in the health system. This phased approach aligns with Lebanon’s National Health Strategy Vision 2030, prioritizing strengthened health system governance, expanded primary healthcare, and greater

The key activities include:

- Strengthening disease surveillance: Under the updated national surveillance strategic framework, strengthen integrated disease surveillance systems by training 500 healthcare workers in data collection and reporting at priority health facilities and by creating a unified "One Health" platform.

- Enhancing laboratory capacity: Enhance laboratory capacity by upgrading one central laboratory and four peripheral laboratories to improve pathogen detection and diagnostics, alongside establishing a robust external quality assurance program.

 - Improving emergency response capabilities: Distribute 100 trauma kits to key health facilities to bolster emergency response capabilities.

- Expanding mental health support: Train 500 healthcare workers in mental health management to enhance psychosocial support services during emergencies.

- Ensuring continuity of essential healthcare: Ensure the continuity of essential healthcare services by supporting over 200 000 patients with chronic medications.

- Building frontline healthcare capacity: Train 1000 health workers in trauma care, mass casualty management, and infection prevention to strengthen frontline response and healthcare continuity. Additionally, build the governance capacity of managers to improve emergency response coordination.

- Supporting human resources in public health: Maintain support for human resources within the Ministry of Public Health, including 100 staff members working in the Ministry, the Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC), and epidemiological surveillance units, as well as nurses and doctors at public hospitals

The World Bank also launched multiple emergency health support projects, including:

The Emergency Primary Healthcare Restoration Project (EPHRP)

Funding for:

- Hospital operational costs

- Medical supplies

- Support to vulnerable patients through public hospitals

After the port blast, additional funding was directed to:

- Rebuilding damaged health facilities

- Mental health services

At the same time, medical NGOs like Doctors Without Borders and the International Medical Corps expanded free and subsidized services, while local NGOs and diaspora-funded initiatives helped cover treatment costs and supply shortages. This international and community-backed support has played a critical role in preventing a full collapse of medical services.

A Paradox That Defines Lebanon

Lebanon’s healthcare sector reflects a broader national paradox: world-class expertise operating within a structurally fragile state. It is a system upheld not by stable governance, but by professional culture, global integration, and social commitment.

That Lebanon still ranks among the region’s healthcare leaders is not evidence that the crisis spared the sector, it is evidence of how much strain it has endured, and how much it has managed to absorb without breaking. In a country where collapse often defines the narrative, healthcare remains one of the clearest examples of institutional resilience but also a reminder that resilience, without reform, can only last so long.