The Healthcare System in Bahrain: Ministry of Health, Health Centres, Insurance for Residents and Emergencies

The national portal describes a system run by the Supreme Council of Health, the National Health Regulatory Authority (NHRA) and the Ministry of Health. The “Healthcare for All” policy, pursued since the 1990s, offers free or subsidised services to citizens and residents. The Supreme Council sets strategy and funding, the Ministry provides public health and the health centres, and the NHRA regulates public and private providers: it issues medical licences, monitors the price and quality of medicines, handles patient complaints and approves clinical research.

• Primary care: the Ministry states that the kingdom provides its primary care through 26 health centres and one clinic spread over four governorates (Muharraq, Capital, Northern and Southern). All citizens and residents are registered at the centre in their area of residence and referred to secondary care through a referral system; the “Choose Your Doctor” programme lets you choose your family doctor.
• Hospitals and specialised centres: the Ministry’s list includes the Salmaniya Medical Complex, maternity hospitals, a psychiatric hospital and the Ebrahim Khalil Kanoo Community Medical Center.
• Private sector: private providers are licensed and regulated by the NHRA; their role is growing with the health insurance law, which provides for approved insurers to cover residents.
• Online services: the Sehati app lets you book appointments, view your medical record and ask a doctor a question.

The guide to living in Bahrain presents the towns and governorates so you can choose a place to settle close to a health centre.

Health insurance Law No. 23, signed at Riffa palace on 30 May 2018, applies to all citizens, residents and visitors, except in particular military personnel and foreign diplomats. It is applied in phases, under a decision of the Council of Ministers on the proposal of the Supreme Council of Health. The Supreme Council’s frequently asked questions explain that the programme applies first to residents, whose insurance is provided by private insurers according to the regulations, and the official Sehati portal announces the launch of the new insurance system, with sections on packages, reimbursements and circulars.

• Non-Bahraini employee: the employer enrols them, along with their dependants if the contract provides for it, with an insurance provider, and pays the premiums; it may not ask the employee for anything in return. If it does not provide valid cover, it pays its employee’s care bills itself.
• Non-working resident, licensed self-employed person with no employer: they pay their own premiums and those of their dependants (spouse, resident ascendants and descendants).
• Sponsored person with no employer: the sponsor pays the premiums.
• Permits: to issue or renew a residence or work permit, the employer or sponsor must have provided the cover. The LMRA asks for a health insurance certificate for a spouse’s permit.
• Visitor: the law provides for a package limited to emergencies and accidents, and a visitor visa can be issued or renewed, where required, only if the premium has been paid; the Supreme Council sets the arrangements.

The residents’ basic package includes, according to the Supreme Council, primary care services, inpatient and outpatient care, emergency care and chronic diseases; the coverage ceiling is set by a decision of the Council, which the pages consulted do not reproduce. Any resident may take out additional cover from an insurer, and cover continues, after residence is cancelled, for the period provided by law. The detail by status is in the guide to healthcare reimbursement in Bahrain.

The Ministry of Health publishes price lists for non-Bahraini patients who are not civil servants, or members of their family, and who are not registered in the primary care scheme. In a health centre, a doctor’s consultation and a dentist’s consultation cost BHD 7 each (about €16.50), and a dental hygiene session BHD 3 (about €7). The lists also cover physiotherapy, nursing care, maternal and child health, adult vaccines, laboratory tests, radiology and the pre-employment medical check-up. Conversions use the day rate of the Central Bank of Bahrain on 05/10/2026: 0.423242 dinar per €1.

Primary care services include diagnosis, tests and radiology, follow-up of chronic diseases, maternal and child care, dental care and emergencies, according to the law. For budgets, see the guide to budgeting for health abroad.

999 reaches the ambulance, civil defence and police. The national portal also lists 199 for a road accident and 80007000 for online health appointments; the Ministry’s customer service answers on 8000 8100. In the event of an accident, the police always attend and the vehicle is not moved: the Traffic Department (+973 17 688 888) or 999 is called (France Diplomatie).

• First contact: the health centre of the area of residence; nine centres are open 24 hours a day: Bbk and Halat Bu Maher (Muharraq), Jidhafs and Sitra (Capital), Shaikh Jaber Al Ahmed Alsabah and Mohammad Jassim Kanoo (Northern), Yusuf Abdul Rahman Engineer, Hamad Kanoo and Madinat Khalifa (Southern).
• Hospitalisation: the Salmaniya Medical Complex comes under the Ministry; insurance with a private network opens up other establishments, with direct billing depending on the contract.
• Pregnancy and children: maternal and child health services are provided to all citizens and residents, and each hospital has a mother-and-child unit (national portal).

The NHRA regulates the price and quality of medicines; the Supreme Council of Health runs an online medicine availability service, and the health insurance law provides for a list of covered medicines, set by decision of the Council. France Diplomatie recommends bringing only the medicines strictly necessary, in their original packaging, with a prescription naming the medicine by its international non-proprietary name, checking that each product is permitted in the country and never taking medicines bought on the street, because of the risk of counterfeits.

Possession and use of narcotics are severely punished, and luggage may be searched on arrival. For long-term treatment, the regular doctor and the authorities confirm before departure that the molecule is permitted, then local follow-up is arranged with a doctor in the country.

The France Diplomatie health page, updated on 15 September 2026, recalls that the vaccines of the French schedule (diphtheria, tetanus, polio, whooping cough, measles) are essential, and mentions additional vaccines depending on the conditions and length of stay: hepatitis A, typhoid fever, meningitis ACWY, rabies, hepatitis B, mpox in the event of at-risk exposure, and yellow fever, compulsory for travellers arriving from endemic zones. An alert about rising measles cases was published in March 2026.

• MERS-CoV coronavirus: fever and lung infection that can be severe, with no vaccine; regular hand washing, avoid contact with camels and dromedaries and their meat or milk, avoid large gatherings.
• Typhoid fever: transmitted through contaminated water and food; hygiene and vaccination.
• Meningococcal meningitis: very serious infection; ACWY vaccination recommended before any trip.

The employer’s compulsory cover is the base. The seconded employee keeps the French scheme: CLEISS gives a duration of 3 years renewable once, with reimbursement within the limit of French benefits, on paid invoices. A member of the CFE (the French social security fund for expatriates) chooses a plan whose starting rate is €87 a month for ages 30 and over and €57 a month for those under 30, with no health questionnaire; the waiting period is nil if enrolment takes place within three months of settling in, then three months before age 45 and six months from age 45. International insurance reimburses actual costs within its ceilings, with access to the private sector.

The points to check in a contract are the annual ceiling, the coverage zone, medical repatriation, direct billing and the treatment of medical history. The expat health insurance page presents these criteria, and the reimbursements guide illustrates them; Expavy helps you weigh them against your situation. For a repatriation, see repatriation and assistance.