Gov't to submit legal structure to ensure national primary healthcare infrastructure to Majlis this year

The government will be submitting the legal structure to ensure a national primary healthcare infrastructure to the People’s Majlis this year.

This was announced by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih during his presidential address, delivered during the inaugural sitting of the People’s Majlis on Thursday morning.

Stressing that there is no point of placing blame for the troubling and “heart-breaking” practice of residents from outer atolls being forced to travel to the Maldives capital for basic health services, the president revealed that “begging” the wealthy to fill prescriptions have become “a thing of the past” because timely decisions were taken to address it in the past.

Currently, CT, mobile ultrasound scan, and laboratory services are available in five tertiary hospitals being development across five areas of the Maldives, said President Solih, who added that MRI service and cardiac services have been established in southern and northern atolls of the Maldives, with dental services fully operational across four of the hospitals. In addition to this, dental service will be launched at Dr. Abdul Samad Memorial Hospital this quarter as well. The five hospitals also offer multiple specialist services.

President Solih stated that the next step is to improve and strengthen these developments, with which he announced that projects to construct hospitals comprising of 100 beds will be launched in Kulhudhuffushi City in Haa Dhaal atoll, Gan Island in Laamu atoll and Thinadhoo island in Gaaf Dhaal atoll as well.

This will go hand-in-hand with projects to construct seven 50-bed Atoll Hospitals and hospitals comprising 30 beds in 12 other islands as well, to kick off this year.

President Solih revealed that the government is working on revitalizing the primary healthcare system in Maldives through a decentralized system and added that a public healthcare portal has been introduced in 58 inhabited islands so far, with efforts underway to submit a legal structure to ensure a national primary healthcare infrastructure to the parliament during 2022.

Shedding light on the important of providing mental healthcare within atolls, the president stated that the urgency of providing mental healthcare within atolls is mirrored in the vast number of people on waiting lists.

He also revealed that psychiatry services are now available in five atolls of the island nation. As such, the government-established Centre for Mental Health has so far arranged 41,890 consultations with the in-patient care unit for the center in Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) expected to be completed by April 2022.

President Solih announced that the government will be providing fully operational ambulances to 96 islands which currently have inadequate ambulance services, with 41 ambulances already having been transferred and plans ongoing for ambulances to be provided to the rest of the islands before the end of March 2022.

The president also revealed that the government is currently developing a national registry for the disable people across Maldives which carry the adequate and relevant data, as there is currently no such registry.

He stated that the registry will be used to provide essential services, rehabilitation and therapy for people with disabilities and once completed in the final quarter of 2022, the president has decided to increase the allowance given to disabled persons.

With this being said, he stated that the Maldives accords every citizen as capable and equal.

Shedding light on the dark shadow the Covid-19 pandemic cast over the Maldives in 2020, President Solih said that vaccines were the only thing that revived hope in the Maldivian people, adding that the government’s inoculation drive has made great strides by global standards.