Saudi Gazette report
RIYADH — The Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) recorded a 7.6 percent increase in the number of registered healthcare practitioners during the year 2025 compared to last year, bringing the total number to over 800,000. This was revealed during the 101st meeting of the SCFHS Board of Trustees, held at the Commission's headquarters in Riyadh on Sunday. Representatives from the government, private, educational, and specialized sectors participated in the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, Minister of Health and Chairman of the SCFHS Board of Trustee Fahad Al-Jalajel expressed his gratitude to the wise leadership for the support and attention given to the health sector, and for the royal patronage extended to the graduates of the SCFHS programs for the year 2025. He commended the success of this year's graduation ceremony, which celebrated the graduation of more than 12,500 male and female students from the Saudi Board and Health Academy programs. More than 20,000 graduates and their families attended the ceremony.

During the meeting, the Council reviewed the performance indicators report and the Commission's major achievements for the fourth quarter of this year. These included an increase in the number of training positions available for training programs in various health specialties to more than 900,100 training positions, representing a growth of more than 17 percent compared to 2024.

The Council was briefed on the authority's efforts in "Health Workforce Planning," which included a study of labor market needs in nursing and clinical assistants up to 2034, integration with the "Education System" through setting standards and classifying health qualifications for scholarship pathways, and alignment with the "National Labor Observatory" for annual coverage of the performance of Saudi university graduates in health fields and career paths.

The Council reviewed the authority’s support for the 2034 FIFA World Cup bid and its work in "Sports Medicine," contributing to increasing the supply of qualified healthcare workers to expand the healthcare system's capacity, developing specialized programs in sports medicine, and signing several agreements with the Professional League Association and the Leadership Development Institute at the Ministry of Sports.