Nearly 3,000 expats replaced by Omanis in health sector over four years

Muscat: Nearly 3,000 expatriates working in Oman's health sector have been replaced by Omanis, the nation's Ministry of Health has announced.

From 2015 to June 2019, 2,869 expatriates were replaced by Omani employees, and the rate of Omanisation reached 71 percent by the end of 2018.

Oman's Minister of Health, Dr Ahmed Al Saidi, said: "The total number of employees at the Ministry of Health by the end of 2018 reached 39,220 employees at the Omanisation rate of 71 per cent."

The percentage of Omanisation in the category of doctors reached 39 percent across all specialisations. The Omanisation rate among consultant doctors is 64 percent, 26 percent for specialists, 43 percent for general practitioners and 82 percent for dentists.

According to the minister, 90 per cent of pharmacists are Omani and assistant pharmacists have an Omanisation rate of 75 per cent.

The percentage of Omanisation in nursing was 62 percent, 61 percent in the category of medical laboratory technicians and 62 percent in the category of radiologists.

In addition, the ministry said that the average cost of healthcare for every Omani is about OMR 300 per person per annum.

Dr Ahmed Al Saidi said: "In 2018, the total number of visits to outpatient clinics for the Ministry of Health institutions amounted to about 15.5 million visits, and 95 percent of them were Omanis."

The number of births in 2018 was 69,310. Al Saidi added: "Of course, this increase in births is accompanied by an increase in expenses. The cost of one natural delivery is OMR 180 and a Cesarean procedure costs OMR 450. For example, the cost of births for 2018 amounted to more than OMR 16 million."

In addition, Oman’s annual population increases by about 80,000 people every year. As the per capita health expenditure per Omani is OMR 300, the cost to meet this increase is OMR 24 million per year.