Contribution of Eastern Mediterranean Region countries to palliative care journals from 1991 to 2020 and its relationship to the development of palliative care

Table 1 Estimated population, income level, palliative care development level and average consumption of drugs across the Eastern Mediterranean countries

Country	Population in millions, 2020 [2]	Income level, 2020 [3]	Palliative care development level			Average consumption of narcotic drugs (excluding Schedule III preparations & methadone) in DDDs for statistical purposes / million inhabitants / day, 2017–2019 [13]
Country	Population in millions, 2020 [2]	Income level, 2020 [3]	2006 [6]	2017 [5]	Change from 2006 to 2017^a
Afghanistan	38.9	Low	1	3a	Progression	2
Bahrain	1.7	High	2	3a	Progression	272
Djibouti	1	Lower middle	1	1	No change	0
Egypt	102.3	Lower middle	3	3a	No change	129
Iran	84	Lower middle	2	3a	Progression	35
Iraq	40.2	Upper middle	3	1	Regression	0
Jordan	10.2	Upper middle	3	3b	Progression	258
Kuwait	4.3	High	2	3a	Progression	302
Lebanon	6.8	Upper middle	2	3a	Progression	248
Libya	6.9	Upper middle	1	3a	Progression	33
Morocco	36.9	Lower middle	3	3a	No change	47
Oman	5.1	High	2	3b	Progression	80
Pakistan	220.9	Lower middle	3	3a	No change	1
Palestine	4.8	Lower middle	2	3a	Progression	0
Qatar	2.9	High	2	3b	Progression	298
Saudi Arabia	34.8	High	3	3b	Progression	382
Somalia	15.9	Low	1	1	No change	0
Sudan	43.9	Low	2	3a	Progression	8
Syria	17.5	Low	1	1	No change	71
Tunisia	11.8	Lower middle	2	3a	Progression	142
United Arab Emirates	9.9	High	3	2	Regression	166
Yemen	29.8	Low	1	1	No change	2

^aA change from level 3 in 2006 to level 3a in 2017 was considered ‘no change’, while a change to 3b was considered ‘progression’

ISSN: 1472-684X