Health data and information are essentials in the health-planning domain, many plans and decisions have been made upon them to improve the health level in the Sultanate. Accordingly, the Ministry of Health represented by the department of Information and Statistics of the Directorate General of Planning & Studies is annually producing several statistical publications to highlight health and vital indicators as well the sustainable development goals indicators, in addition to the most important achievements in the health system in the Sultanate, whether at the central level or at the level of Governorates andwilayat.
Building upon the work of the five-year plans for health development, Dr. Ahmed Mohammad Al Qasimi, Director General of Planning and Studies stated that the Ministry has evaluated the objectives of the Ninth Five-Year Plan for Health Development (2016-2020) to highlight the most important achievements in the health system, where the information and data are utilized to support the five-year plans and where the indicators are used to evaluate the activities. Moreover, the five-year plans are evaluated to identify the challenges and obstacles that faced the health system in the past period. Furthermore, the Ministry is currently preparing the tenth five-year plan for health development (2021-2025), which is based primarily on Oman 2040 Vision.
In order to clarify health-related indicators in the past period, the Directorate General of Planning and Studies represented by the Information and Statistics Department decided to issue an information document that analyzes the current situation and compares the health data for the year 2019 with the year 2016, which is the base year of the Ninth Five-Year Plan for Health Development (2016-2020).
The number of health institutions at the end of 2019 reached (261) institutions, including (50) hospitals (comprising 5049 beds), (22) polyclinics and (189) health centers distributed over the Sultanate’s governorates and wilayat,pointed outDr. Al Qasimi. Additionally, the Ministry has opened many sup-specialized clinics at the referral hospitals in the Governorates, providing a significant complement to the advancement of quality health services.
Dr. Omar Abdulaziz Al-Farsi, Director of the Information and Statistics Department indicated that the development in the field of health services has been accompanied by a significant development in the workforce in the ministry. Despite the slight decrease in the total number of workers in the MOH from 39,413 employees in 2019 compared to 39,506 employees in 2016 due to implementing the Omanization policy, the total number of physicians increased by approximately 4%, and about 3% for dentists. The largest increase was in the pharmacists' category, as it exceeded 40% compared to the same period. There was a 5% increase of Omani health workers in 2019 compared to 2016.
The Director of the Information and Statisticsstated that the expansion of health services, in terms of quantity and quality, and the increase in the population have led to an increase in the number of outpatient visits for the year 2019 by about 100,000 visits compared to 2016, and an average of 5.6 visits per Omani capita in 2019. The Ministry performed about (118,000) operations with a 6% increase, and about (29 million) laboratory examinations with a 9.5% increase, and more than (1.7 million) radiology with a 7% rise.
Dr. Al-Farsi indicated that the increase in the number of dialysis units all over the Sultanate’s governorates led to an increase in the total number of dialysis sessions for patients to about (292,000) sessions in 2019 compared to (204,000) dialysis sessions in 2016, with an increase of about 7.7%. On the other hand, the number of admissions decreased from about (343,000) patients in 2016 to (331,000) patients in 2019, with a decrease of 3.7%. Thus, the increase in the number of beds together with the decrease in the number of inpatients has resulted in a 4% decrease in beds occupancy rate.
