Healthcare | Sunday 12 August, 2018 7:22 am |

Only 28 percent of 29,000 pharmacists working in the Kingdom are Saudi nationals, according to the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, which has said more than 900 Saudis, who have obtained bachelor's degrees in pharmacology, are currently seeking jobs.

“Of the total number of pharmacists Saudis represent 8,200 or 28.44 percent while expats account for 20,800 or 71.56 percent,” Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper reported quoting commission sources.

The SCFHS said the number of Saudi pharmacists would increase by 149 percent during the next five years (2018-2022). “By that time we’ll have 12,377 pharmacists including women,” it added.

The commission expected 6,668 female pharmacists and 5,509 male pharmacists to graduate from Saudi universities and colleges by the year 2022.

It said 1,231 male and female pharmacists would graduate at the end of this academic year, 2,393 next year, 2,631 in 2020, 3,004 in 2021 and 3,118 in 2022.

The commission projected the number of Saudi pharmacists would jump by 222 percent by the year 2027 with their total number reaching 26,600 or 74 percent of the total pharmacists in the country.

“At the same time the number of non-Saudi pharmacists will decrease by 54 percent to reach 9,440 or 26 percent in the year 2027 when the number of total pharmacists will cross 36,000,” the report said.

As a result of this increase there will be a pharmacist for every 1,200 people.

In order to achieve self-sufficiency in pharmacists by 2027, the Kingdom should bring down the number of foreign pharmacists by 6.7 percent annually during the next 10 years, the commission said.

The number of Saudi pharmaceutical consultants has reached 131, first grade pharmacists 494 and clinical pharmacists 102, the commission said, adding that 907 Saudi pharmacists who hold bachelor degrees, including 22 specialists are seeking jobs by the first quarter of 2018.