Ministry of Health has launched the Maldives Health Line project as part of its efforts to decentralise healthcare services.
Under the Maldives Health Line project, specialist doctors in various fields will visit the atolls as part of outreach programmes, allowing individuals to receive treatment without having to travel from their residential island. As such, multipurpose 40ft speedboats are being handed over to 20 atolls for the programmes.
At the launching ceremony, Minister of Health Ahmed Naseem said the Maldives Health Line will allow the government to conduct a comprehensive outreach programme by making it easier to provide healthcare services from one island to another. He said that the system will ensure that residents of the atolls receive specialist treatment as well as laboratory services and patient transport services. He also assured that all the speedboats will be handed over to the atolls by November and that the ministry aims to connect the islands via air transport as well.
The Maldives Health Line is a USD3.5 million project. The health ministry has stated that the State Trading Organisation (STO) will soon begin transporting emergency medicine to the atolls using drones under the project.