Ministry of Health has stated that mental health treatment will be provided in five regional hospitals.
Speaking to PSM News, Minister of State for Health Dr. Shah Mahir said mental illnesses require various types of treatment, similar to other illnesses. He also said that a triage policy should be implemented to reduce the load on health facilities in the Greater Male’ Region, emphasising the need to train more health workers.
Furthermore, State Minister Shah noted there are challenges in providing treatment for mental illnesses in regional hospitals and that the ministry is currently seeking trained mental health professionals. He said that work is being done to determine which regions have the highest need for mental health treatment.
Additionally, Shah highlighted the budgetary constraints and said that the salary structure of the health sector needs to be overhauled. He added the work to develop the health sector, especially mental health care, will soon see major improvements.
The prevalence of mental illnesses increased in the Maldives amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the government has been working to provide mental health treatment for the past three years. As part of the efforts, Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) opened the Centre for Mental Health in 2019 and opened a mental health ward to facilitate the admission of mental health patients in June 2022. The government now aims to formulate a policy to treat mental illnesses and establish mental health treatment in all health facilities in the Maldives.