Minister of Health Ahmed Naseem has stated the government is providing vaccines to locals and expatriates without discrimination. In his statement at the virtual 74th World Health Assembly, Health Minister Naseem said the government believes that it is critical to ensure equity in providing health services, especially during a public health crisis.
The minister said the health system of the Maldives is reliant on resources sourced from other countries, including professionals, medical equipment, consumables, and vaccines. The Maldives has been able to allocate its resources to fight the pandemic and safely re-open the tourism industry despite the challenges, he said adding the government has been able to keep the situation from going catastrophic, although the Maldives is grappling with a third wave of COVID-19 cases.
Highlighting the right to healthcare is one of the most basic tenets of life, Minister Naseem said the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the world health systems were not adequately prepared. He called on the heads of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and delegations of other member states as well as heads of the global and multilateral agencies to ensure the rights of people within and across nations as well as to escalate the joint efforts to prepare for the next pandemic.
The World Health Assembly, held annually in May in Geneva, is the largest meeting with health policymakers and actors drawn from across the world and determines the policy for the WHO.