Riyadh, Aug 11 (Arab News): The Ministry of Health has set the ball rolling to achieve the goal of employing 100,000 Saudis in the health care sector as part of the Vision 2030 plan.

The ministry aims to nationalize health specialties with competitive and qualified staff. It will implement a performance measurement system and define specifications for health licenses as well as provide training opportunities by increasing the number of specialized seats.

The ministry’s partnership with specialized educational and academic establishments is expected to help in achieving the 100,000 target by the year 2030.

According to a report, the total number of workers in the ministry based on gender, nationality and area in the year 2015 was 38,548 doctors and dentists, with 11,483 (29.9 percent) Saudi doctors.

The number of dentists was 3,357, of whom 2,082 were Saudis (62 percent); 91,854 nurses, 64,785 of whom are Saudis (59.6 percent); 2,914 pharmacists, 2,631 Saudi (90.3 percent).

The number of assistant medical categories last year was at 53,077, of whom 49,307 were Saudis (92.9 percent).

According to the report, there were on an average 12.5 doctors for 10,000 people, which means one doctor for 800 people. On an average, 10,000 people had 0.95 pharmacists, which means one pharmacist for 10,559 people. There were 29.85 nurses for 10,000 people, which means one nurse for 335 people.

The total number of doctors and dentists in the Kingdom last year was 81,532, of whom 19,029 were Saudis; 12,785 dentists; the number of people involved in nursing was 165,324 (37.2 percent Saudis); 22,241 pharmacists (20.6 percent Saudis) and the number of workers in assisting medical categories was 94,960, with 72.6 percent Saudis.