Dubai has one of the highest physician-to-population ratios in the world  2.9 doctors for every 1,000 residents — the latest Dubai Health Authority (DHA) figures released on Sunday show.

This is higher than some Western nations, according to a comparison with WHO figures. In US and Canada, the rate is around 2.5; it’s about 2.8 in the UK, and around 0.7 in India.

On Sunday, DHA said in its annual report that the health strategy is on track. The health sector in Dubai has witnessed a growth in doctors and employees, with the number of licensed doctors in 2017 reaching 8,700: a growth rate of 82.4 per cent from 2010.

The increase comes in line with the Dubai Health Strategy 2021.

Dubai Hospital (with 381,334 visitors) and Rashid Hospital (321,241 visitors) remain the most visited government health care facility in Dubai, according to the annual report.

The report aims to help understand the impact of current health services providers on the Dubai population and work towards their betterment, providing detailed information on the distribution of health conditions, diagnoses and procedures.

Speaking on augmentation of services at DHA as per UAE Vision 2021, Humaid Al Qatami, DHA director general and chairman of the DHA board had earlier remarked: “The DHA is striving to make the population of Dubai healthier and happier by providing world-class health care services fostering creativity and innovation in alignment with UAE vision and Dubai plan 2021.”

The report also aims to benefit policy and decision makers in the health field who rely on this data when allocating resources, as it shows important health trends that help caregivers spot new developments, track and monitor population health status over time.

According to the report, the authority received 2,014,012 customers in 2017, out of which 321,241 were Rashid Hospital customers, 381,334 visited Dubai Hospital, 149,640 visited Latifa Hospital, 122,327 visited Hatta Hospital and 1,039,470 visited the authority’s 12 primary health care centers.

The number of surgical operations performed in DHA hospitals during 2017 was 26,000, with an average of 2,208 monthly operations. Major operations amounted to 13,771 and accounted to 52 per cent of surgeries.

Rashid, Dubai, Latifa, and Hatta Hospitals accounted for 30.4 per cent, 41.1 per cent, 25.3 per cent and 3.2 per cent of the total operations, respectively.

Main surgeries include orthopaedic surgery (20.4 per cent), obstetrics & gynaecology (19.2 per cent) and general surgery (15.6 per cent).

Outpatient and inpatient visits
The authority recorded 2,257,393 visits to its outpatient clinics, with Emirati nationals constituting 65.7 per cent of all outpatients visits. Female nationals accounted for 51.8 per cent of the total national attendance.

Of the around 2.26 million outpatient clinic visits, DHA hospitals accounted for 42 per cent, 49.6 per cent were primary health care and 8.4 took place at the authority’s specialised health centres with 8.4 per cent of the total attendance. Meanwhile, the report found there were 76,963 inpatient visits in 2017.

DHA dental Centres
The total number of attendees in DHA dental clinics was 167,700 patients, in 2017. Nationals made up 86.2 per cent of the total visits, and women constituted 59.3 per cent of the total. Dental treatments in 2017 numbered 181,228, provided through 15 dental clinics and 67 chairs.

Medical fitness Centres
The authority’s 17 medical fitness centres performed 2,012,361 tests in 2017, performed through 17 centres. It amounted for a 6 per cent increase than that of 2016. About half of these tests were performed in Al Muhaisnah (46.9 per cent) with an increase of (3.5 per cent) than that of 2016.

Hospital beds
There are 2,193 hospital beds spread across DHA’s hospitals; 779 beds in Rashid Hospital, 678 in Dubai Hospital, 468 in Latifa Hospital and 118 in Hatta Hospital. There are also 66 beds in medical fitness centres.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in Gulf News on Sunday September 2nd, 2018 http://bit.ly/GNHighDoctorResidentRatio