Oman tops WHO's doctor-population ratio

The number of doctors per 10,000 population in the Sultanate stood at as high as 20, while for nurses it was 44 in 2020.

“This is against nine doctors and 26 nurses per every 10,000 population in 1990,” reveals the Annual Report published by the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Significantly, the doctor-nurses ratio reached 2.2 in 2020 while medical officer and the specialist ratio remained at 1.1 in the same year.

However, the ratio suggested by the World Health Organisation was one doctor per 1,000 patients. For Oman it was 2 per 1,000 population.

According to the recent OECD data, Italy has 4 doctors per 1,000 of its population while Spain has 3.9, the United States 2.5 and China 2 doctors per 1,000 people.

While the public sector accounts for 62 per cent of the total health staff, the private sector accounts for 28 per cent of doctors, 76 per cent of dentists and 70 per cent of pharmacists.

The percentage of Omanisation in the health Sector has reached 73 per cent in MoH and 13 per cent in Private Sector.

At the same time, the rate of Omanisation in MoH throughout the years, has increased in all medical and paramedical categories. The increase among nurses from 12 per cent in 1990 to 66 per cent in 2020.

Omanis account for 98 per cent of the health administrators, 100 per cent of the medical orderlies and 100 per cent of the administrative support staff (white-collar staff, skilled and unskilled labour).

According to the report Omanisation among doctors, dentists, pharmacists and nurses collectively has reached almost 60 per cent in 2020 compared to 59 per cent in 2019.

For MoH, there has been an increase in pharmacists in 2020 compared to 2019; by 3 per cent, while there has been a decrease in laboratory technicians by 1.0 per cent, and nurse staff by 0.2 per cent.

“Manpower information is essential for proper planning of the health care delivery system. Staffs working in the health care system are distributed among a number of categories and all complement to provide health care”, says the report.