RIYADH, 16 December 2005 — The number of Filipino female nurses joining the work force in Saudi Arabia is declining while that of males is rising, according to the Philippine Embassy.
Ambassador Bahnarim A. Guinomla noted that in year 2003, only 13 visas were granted to male Filipino nurses. But in 2004, the number jumped to 100, followed by 152 this year.
On the other hand, he said, visas issued to female nurses in 2003 numbered 1,395. This rose to 2,288 last year but went down to 1,641 this year.
Guinomla, quoting “official sources,” also noted an upward trend for male technicians, with 188 visas given for 2005, from 124 last year and only 27 in 2003. “Correspondingly, the number for female technicians pointed to the opposite direction with 267 working visas issued in 2003, 642 in 2004 and 540 for the present year,” he said.
Guinomla said he has sent the statistics to the Institute of Health Policy and Development Studies of the National Institute of Health, University of the Philippines in Manila, it said.
The institute is participating in a collaborative study with the World Health Organization, World Bank and other international institutions on “The International Recruitment of Nurses.”