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More locals to hold technical positions

ABU DHABI - The Ministry of Health is preparing a six-year plan to emiratise 60 per cent of its technical positions as a first step towards giving a boost to the policy of emiratisation adopted by the country, said a senior health official.

Dr Abdul Ghaffar Abdul Ghaffor, Assistant Under-Secretary of the Central Curative Medicine Department, told Khaleej Times yesterday that a large number of national medical college graduates would be recruited in the next few months. The aim is to meet the required percentage set by the ministry.

"The ministry has developed programmes to recruit nationals in technical fields to fulfil the plan," said Dr Ghaffor, who is also chairman of the Emiratisation Committee at the ministry.

The ministry has already employed 1,300 national physicians, 6,000 nurses and 2,000 radiology technicians, he said.

We are now focusing on emiratising posts occupied by expatriate psychiatrists in different medical districts and hospitals to allow a large number of national graduates in this field to fill these posts, said Dr Ghaffor.

One of the programmes to push ahead the plan includes enhancing coordination between the ministry and universities and higher educational institutions in the country towards creating qualified cadres to meet the the ministry’s demands, he said.

"The ministry is now planning to brief students of UAE University and Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) on specialisations required for the coming years. Radiologists, laboratory technicians, pharmacists, assistant pharmacists and statisticians are mostly required to fill up posts at the ministry," said Dr Ghaffor.

Conducting training programmes at medical districts for national graduates to qualify them so that they can join the local labour market is also one of the tasks of the committee to enhance the ministry’s plan of emaratisation of technical posts, he said.

"The committee is also responsible for employing national medical specialists and consultants, who are pursuing their higher studies abroad, at medical districts and hospitals in the country, if they wish to serve their society," he said.

There are about 121 men and women nationals studying medicine abroad, particularly in Canadian universities, said Dr Ghaffor.

On the administrative cadre, he said presently 24 per cent of the ministry’s administrative posts has been assigned to expatriates in the capital, while in Dubai and Northern Emirates the number of expatriates occupying administrative vacancies stands at eight per cent.

Efforts are under way to emiratise this sector, while the committee hopes that by the end of 2005, all the administrative posts at the ministry will be handled by nationals, said Dr Ghaffor.