Healthcare in Algeria
Healthcare in Algeria consists of an established network of hospitals, clinics, and dispensaries, with children and low-income people entitled to free healthcare, while the wealthy pay for care according to a sliding scale. Access to healthcare is enhanced by the requirement that doctors and dentists work in public health for at least five years. However, doctors are more easily found in the cities of the north than in the southern Sahara region. While medical equipment and medications in public facilities may not always be up to date, staffing levels are high.[1]
History
The first public hospitals were built in Algiers, Oran and Annaba between 1883 and 1889, and in 1895 the first batch of native Algerian medical students graduated as doctors. However between 1914 and 1964, healthcare stagnated and only 50 hospital beds were added on average to the national stock, and only about 19 qualified doctors were added to the workforce on average every year. The Algerian government invested heavily in training new medical staff, and medical schools began graduating large numbers of doctors.