Dubai is second only to Germany in number of doctors

According to a latest report, Dubai has the world's second highest number of physicians per 10,000 population, just following Germany that has the highest number.

According to the Dubai Health Authority's (DHA) annual statistical book for 2016, though the overall number for the UAE stands at 25.3 physicians per 10,000 people, Dubai's alone stands at 33.5 as compared to Germany's at 38.9.

In the UK, the number of physicians stood at 28.1, the USA at 25 and Saudi Arabia at 25.9.

There is a significant growth in the number of physicians and manpower, according to the statistical handbook.

The registered physicians in Dubai were 8,614 for the year of 2016, with an increase of 80.7 per cent than that of 2010.

Also, a slight increase of the rate of physicians per 1,000 population has been done in 2016. It accounted for 3.4 compared to the 3.3 rate of 2015.

Of these, the share of DHA was 0.6 physicians per 1,000 population, while the share of private was 2.7 physicians per 1,000 population.

The rate of dentists was 0.8 per 1,000 population, while it was 7.2 for nurses.

The physicians distributed as 34.3 per cent in Rashid Hospital, 26.4 per cent in Dubai Hospital, and 11.8 per cent for Latifa Hospital 7.4 per cent in Hatta Hospital. Primary Health Care and specialised health centres physicians constituted 18.7 per cent and 1.4 per cent of the total physicians in the DHA.

However, the number of nurses was 72 per 10,000 population as compared to Germany with the world's highest at 113.8 followed by the Saudi Arabia at 98.2 and UK at 94.7.

In mid of last year, the DHA said that select Emirati students in Dubai have been promised a monthly allowance and a job if they continue their medical education and join the ranks after completing their studies.

The students will be given Dh6,500 per month to do a major in medicine and Dh5,000 per month if they want to continue studies in the field of paramedics and nursing. Insurance and book expenses will also be covered along with all educational and registration fees.

According to the DHA's Annual Health Statistical Report for 2015, a total of 1,612 Emiratis are currently working in the medical sector in Dubai. Category-wise statistics say that 276 physicians, 106 dentists, 50 nurses, 29 pharmacists are working in Dubai hospitals and primary health centres.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on Saturday July 1st, 2017 http://bit.ly/khaleejtimeshealthcare