There has been a growth in the number of healthcare professionals in the private sector compared to that of the public sector.
According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information’s (NCSI) annual report, the number of doctors in the private sector increased to 2,617 in 2021 from 2,557 in 2019.
At the same time, the report added that there has been a decline over the last three years in the number of doctors and nurses in the government sector, which includes health institutions under the Ministry of Health, Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), the Diwan of Royal Court, the Royal Oman Police and the Petroleum Development Oman (PDO).
The total number of doctors in the public dropped to 6,409 by the end of 2021, from 7,045 by the end of 2019. The report indicated that the total number of doctors affiliated with the Ministry of Health dropped to 5,807 in 2021, compared to 6,419 by the end of 2019. At the same time, the number of nurses in the government sector declined during the past three years, from 16,245 in 2019 to 15,924 in 2021.
The number of dentists decreased from 371 in 2019 to 359, while the number of pharmacists increased from 848 in 2019 to 881 in 2021.
It may be noted as per the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) last annual report in 2020, for every 10,000 population, there were 20 doctors and 44 nurses in the country compared to nine doctors and 26 nurses in 1990.
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.
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