Saudi Arabia plans to triple locals in healthcare sector by 2030

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health plans to employ 100,000 Saudis in the health sector by 2030, it was reported on Thursday.

The target figure is a three-fold increase from the current number of Saudis employed by the health ministry, and comes as the ministry releases figures showing there is just one doctor for every 800 people in the kingdom.

As part of the Vision 2030 economic diversification strategy, the ministry has partnered with specialised educational establishments to help it reach its recruitment target, according to Arab News.

The ministry plans to implement a performance measurement system and define specifications for healthcare licences as well as provide new training opportunities.

Quoting official figures, the newspaper said the total number of healthcare workers employed by the ministry in 2015 was 38,548 doctors and dentists, 11,483 – or 29.9 percent – of which were Saudis. There were 3,357 dentists, of which 2,082 were Saudis (62 percent); as well as 91,854 nurses, 64,785 of which were Saudis (59.6 percent), and  2,914 pharmacists, 2,631 (90.3 percent) of which were Saudis.

The number of assistant medical professionals last year stood at 53,077, of which 49,307 (92.9 percent) were Saudis.

Overall, there were a total of 81,532 doctors and dentists in the kingdom last year, of which 19,029 were Saudi nationals. Of the total, 12,785 were dentists, 165,324 were nurses (37.2 percent of which were Saudis); 22,241 were pharmacists (20.6 percent Saudis) and the number of assistant healthcare workers was 94,960, 72.6 percent of which were Saudis.

The ministry’s figures also showed that there was an average of 12.5 doctors for every 10,000 people, which means one doctor for 800 people. The global average is 2.5 per 1,000 people, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) – although 44 percent of WHO member states report to have less than one physician per 1,000 people.