In the early 1970s, Oman was among the poorest and most isolated states in the Middle East; some dubbed it the “Tibet of Arabia.” The country’s deprivation was clearest in the poor state of public health: most Omanis did not live into their fifties, while morbidity and mortality rates were among the highest in the region. There were fewer than 100 doctors for a nation of 723,000 people, with appalling death rates in overcrowded hospitals—a reflection of the fact that many Omanis were often very sick when they reached medical care, much of which was situated a significant distance from their homes.

In contrast, by the year 2000, life expectancy had increased to 72, while the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the Sultanate’s healthcare system as one of the best in the world. While important gaps remain between different regions of the country in access to healthcare, there is little question that the country has made tremendous progress overall since the late Sultan Said bin Qaboos assumed the throne in 1970 and created the Omani Ministry of Health (MOH). Under direction from Sultan Qaboos, that ministry has built, from nearly scratch, a model national healthcare system while also combating malaria and other communicable diseases. Indeed, the Sultan publicly promoted the MOH’s work, insisting during his five decades on the throne that access to quality healthcare was a right that should be enjoyed by everyone—from Omanis residing in the wealthiest neighborhoods of Muscat to Bedouins living in the poorest and most remote areas of Dhofar’s interior.

Throughout that time, the ministry has benefited from generous official support and its work with domestic and international partners, including Oman’s Ibadi religious elites. The Omani manual on communicable diseases features a fatwa (Islamic legal opinion) on Ebola by Assistant Grand Mufti Sheikh Kahlan al-Kharusi, which calls on Allah “to ward off every plague.”