All Barbadian citizens are covered by universal health care at polyclinics and one general hospital. Barbados was placed 37th of 187 countries surveyed, in the

Human Development Index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, wh ...

. According to the 2019 World Bank Data, the life expectancy at birth in Barbados was 79 for men and 82 for women.

History

American President

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

accompanied his brother

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

to Barbados to help him recover from a bout of tuberculosis in the warm climate of the island in 1751. While there George contracted

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

Healthcare

Expenditure on health per capita in 2014 was $1,014, 7.5% of GDP. The country has above the average ratio of health care professionals to population. All Barbadian citizens are covered by

Universal health care Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized ar ...

. Barbados has eight

polyclinic A polyclinic (where ''poly'' means "many"; not to be confused with the homonym policlinic, where ''poli'' means "city" and which is sometimes used for a hospital's outpatient department) is a clinic or health care facility that provides both gen ...

s throughout the country, 5 Geriatric hospitals for care of the elderly, and a network of Child Care facilities, in addition to the main Queen Elizabeth Hospital (General Hospital) located in Bridgetown. There are private medical clinics, including the Sandy Crest Medical Centre on the west coast, and the FMH Emergency Medical Clinic, just outside

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. Bridgetown is sometimes locally referred to as "The Ci ...

. The

Barbados Psychiatric Hospital Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

is located in Black Rock,

. The Ministry of Health & Wellness also operates the

Barbados Drug Service Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

which provides a pharmacy service for the island. In 2011, the Government of Barbados signed a memorandum of understanding to lease its Saint Joseph Hospital site to the Denver, Colorado-based America World Clinics (now Traverse Global Healthcare). Under the deal, the group will use Barbados as one of its main destinations for

medical tourism Medical tourism refers to people traveling abroad to obtain medical treatment. In the past, this usually referred to those who traveled from less-developed countries to major medical centers in highly developed countries for treatment unavailable a ...

at that facility. The government also announced it would begin constructing a new $900 million state-of-the-art hospital to replace the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

References

{{North America topic, Health in

History

Healthcare

See also

Further reading

References