Health sector contributed 4% of Oman's GDP in 2020

Muscat: Spending on the health sector out of the total government expenditure in the Sultanate of Oman amounted to 7.4 per cent in 2020.

In addition, the contribution of the health sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices amounted to about OMR954.1 million or 3.9 per cent.

The average monthly expenditure and consumption of an Omani family on healthcare amounted to OMR9 of the total monthly expenditure in 2018-2019.

The number of healthcare institutions in the Sultanate of Oman reached 1,587 in 2020, of which 64 per cent are private clinics.

The percentage of national employment in government and private health institutions increased by about 7 per cent compared to 2016, according to the ‘Health Bulletin’ issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information.

As for the average number of visits per person per year to the outpatient clinics of the institutions affiliated with the Ministry of Health, the bulletin showed that it decreased from 3.5 per cent in 2016 to 2.3 per cent in 2020.

North Al Batinah Governorate ranked highest in terms of patients visiting the outpatient clinics of the institutions of the Ministry of Health, reaching 18.7 percent.

Of the total visits to the governorates in the Sultanate, the visit of expat patients to outpatient clinics at the Ministry of Health accounted for 5.4 per cent of the total visits in 2020.

With regard to health indicators and healthy behaviour, the bulletin shows that the coverage rate of immunisations for children in 2020 amounted to 100 per cent, while the maternal mortality rate increased from 13.4 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2016 to 29.4 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020.

Al Buraimi Governorate had the highest percentage of caesarean operations out of the total births in the governorate, as it constituted 26.8 per cent in 2020.

The bulletin states that the number of inpatients with tumours in the Sultanate of Oman has reached 4,341, and the number of new cases of eye diseases registered at health institutions affiliated with the Ministry of Health is about 137,10.

The bulletin also indicates that the North Al Batinah Governorate has the highest incidence of ear diseases with 17.5 per cent of the total cases, while the Al Wusta Governorate has the lowest at 1.7 per cent.

The bulletin indicated that the total visits to psychiatric clinics in North Al Batinah amounted to 25,342, which is the highest among the governorates in 2020.

As for deaths resulting from infectious and parasitic diseases, which include deaths from Covid-19 were the highest, leading to 1,727 deaths in 2020. It represented 35 per cent,  followed by diseases of the circulatory system with 895 deaths or 18 per cent, and the respiratory system with 651 cases or 13 per cent.

The percentage of surgical operations performed in the institutions affiliated with the Ministry of Health between 2016 and 2020 decreased by more than 50 per cent. The lowest number of x-rays was performed in the Musandam Governorate, accounting for 1.1 per cent of the total x-rays performed in the governorates of the Sultanate.

Meanwhile, the number of blood donors in blood banks increased by 6.7 per cent between 2016 - 2020.
The health statistics bulletin shows that with the increase in the number of patients, dialysis centres witnessed a qualitative and quantitative expansion with 24 centres providing services to 2,264 patients.

Statistics indicate an increase in the number of dialysis sessions in the Sultanate from 204,289 sessions in 2016 to 309,845 sessions in 2020.

With inputs from ONA