The Government of the Maldives has allocated the largest amount of funds to the health sector in the proposed State Budget 2023.
The President’s Office previously stated next year’s state budget will be prioritised for the progress of the health sector. As such, USD324 million has been allocated for next year, with USD266 million allocated for recurrent expenditure and USD58 million for capital expenditure.
Submitting the proposed state budget to the Parliament, Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer highlighted the government’s efforts to develop the health sector in the last four years and its upcoming initiatives. He noted that USD156 million has been allocated for the payment of salaries of health workers and that the budget has been increased for 24hr health centres in the atolls, while USD2.6 million has been allocated for increasing the number of health workers.
Additionally, Minister Ameer said the government has been decentralising and improving health services, which includes the projects to develop tertiary hospitals in five regions. He highlighted that USD4.7 million has been allocated to complete the remaining work and that it was three times larger than the funds allocated for the projects in 2018. The proposed budget also allocated USD3.5 million to complete the development of the cancer hospital in Gan, Laamu Atoll.
Furthermore, the government has allocated USD36 million to upgrade 132 health centres in 2023, which includes infrastructure development and adding more equipment and resources to expand services. Minister Ameer said the government has provided modern ambulances and established mental health centres in the islands and that funds have been allocated to establish more centres. He added that USD27 million has been allocated for operational costs for hospitals.
In conclusion, Minister Ameer also said one of the highest state expenditures goes towards the national health care insurance scheme, Aasandha, and that USD65 million has been allocated to develop the insurance system by taking measures to reduce waste and to lower the baseline price of medicine and medical consumables covered by Aasandha by allowing bulk procurement, which is expected to cost USD65 million.