Proceedings of the 13th Meeting of the
COMCEC Poverty Alleviation Working Group
15
declaration. These commitments have been incorporated into Malaysian national policies, plans
and direction such as in the Vision for health, policies in health and the five-year plan.
6.3. Oman
Omani delegate Dr. Badriya AL-RASHDI, Director at Ministry of Health in Oman, made a
presentation on the access to health services in her country.
She began her presentation by providing some health statistics in Oman. According to National
Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI) estimation, the mid-year Omani population in 2017
results in a sex ratio of 102 males per 100 females. 15.3% and 36.8% of the population are under-
5 years and under-15 years, respectively and only 6% are 60 years and over. More than quarter
(25.8%) of the total Omani population is females in the reproductive age group (15-49 years). They
represent nearly 52.1% of all females and about 42.9% of them are expected to be married. The
world health survey (WHS) 2008 displayed that the singulate mean age at first marriage (SMAM) is
29.1 years for males and 26.8 years for females. The rise of the singulate mean age (20.7 for female
and 24.7 for male according to 1993 census) might be one of the factors responsible for the decline
in fertility rate in Oman. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of Omani women was estimated from 1993
census data to be 6.9 and declined to 3.56 according to 2003 census and became 4.0 during 2017.
The Crude Birth Rate (CBR) is estimated to be 33.5 per 1000 Omani population during 2017. The
CBR indicates a drop of 16.9% over the past twenty two years (1993 CBR= 40.3). This is also
accompanied by a decline in the Crude Death Rate (CDR) from 7.3 in 1993 to 2.9 per 1000 Omani
population in 2017.
Dr. AL-RASHDI continued her presentation by giving some details about the health system in Oman.
In early 1970s, there were only 2 hospitals with 12 beds and 10 clinics and by 2017; Ministry of
Health (MOH) is running 49 hospitals. Oman is witnessing a shift in its main health problems from
communicable diseases to health problems related to changes in life style and changes in
population structure manifested in non-communicable diseases. The Ministry has therefore paid
attention in its Five-Year Health Development Plans to developments in secondary and tertiary
care. There are, now, a total of 5,039 hospital beds. In its support for primary health care, MOH
opened one new Health Center in Dhofar Governorate. This makes the total number of health
centers 207 of which 60 are equipped with beds (a total of 98 beds), and twenty-three (23)
extended health centers. MOH attempted to strengthen health services outside Muscat
Governorate. Therefore an umbrella of health services was established to cover the entire
Sultanate. There is a “Governorate Hospital” in each health governorate that provides secondary
care (tertiary in some) for the people as an addition to existing facilities.
In 2017 for every 10,000 population, there are 20 doctors and 43.7 nurses in the country as
compared to 9.0 doctors and 26.0 nurses in 1990. The nurse-doctor ratio is 2.2 and medical officer
specialist ratio is 1.3 in 2017 with increasing number of Omani doctors and nurses. The public
sector is further sub-divided into MOH and Non-MOH. The public sectors other than Ministry of
Health include Royal Oman Police, Petroleum Development Oman, Sultan Qaboos University