There is great diversity of hospitals in the Region, often even within the same country. Prominent public and private medical centres exist in the Region that are comparable to the most advanced in any other region. However, in many of these hospitals there are also services that do not meet a minimum level of quality.

A number of government, semi-private and private health institutions in the Region are currently seeking recognized accreditation systems in order to cope with heightened demands for quality in health care service delivery. Many countries, including Jordan, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia, have established national committees to study requirements for accreditation; others, such as Egypt and Morocco, are piloting national accreditation programmes. Private hospitals are also active in pursuing accreditation and ISO certification.