President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has revealed the National Mental Health Centre would be established in approximately two months and treatment via national healthcare insurance scheme would be arranged.
Delivering the presidential address, President Solih said the facilities for the centre are being set up at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) and the Mental Health Bill outlining the formation of the centre will be submitted to parliament this year. In his address, the president shed light on several of the 100-day pledges of the administration.
The president stated government institutions are working tirelessly to mediate arrangements for Maldivians to access insurance services from selected hospitals in India and Sri Lanka, the two countries most frequented by Maldivians, as well as Malaysia, where a large number of Maldivians reside. He assured the service would be available for Maldivians residing in Sri Lanka from start of April.
The president also announced retail of bidi, cigarettes and cigars would be banned with the implementation of the Regulation on Packaging and Labelling tobacco on World No Tobacco Day.
President Solih also announced HPV vaccination for girls between the ages of 9 and 13 would begin this year, as a measure to reduce the number of women who get diagnosed with cervical cancer. He also revealed arrangements would be made to provide the service of carrying the serum ferritin investigation to determine how much iron the body is storing in thalassemia patients.
Currently, approximately 900 thalassemia patients are registered in Maldives. Ministry of Health is carrying out work to create awareness about thalassemia in an attempt to control thalassemia in the country.