Health Minister Ahmed Naseem has said that the country's health system has undergone revolutionary changes despite the challenges faced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking at the MDP Congress on Saturday, Minister Naseem said he had not seen such major changes in the health system of the country except under the government of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
Naseem said the government is giving special priority to bringing about a revolutionary change in the health system. While two and a half years after the COVID-19 outbreak, which shook the entire health system, Naseem said there have been remarkable achievements despite the challenges.
The minister noted that two tertiary hospitals were opened in two regions other than the Greater Male' Area, and that final preparations are underway to open three more hospitals. Specialist doctors have been recruited for the atolls, and various tests can now be conducted in the atolls, he said.
"Few countries have achieved such success in controlling COVID-19. In the most dangerous period of the pandemic, health services were continuously provided to the people without interruption," Naseem said.
The minister added that the health system in the Maldives was very poor when President Solih took over the government. Bringing about development to health services and human resources at the same pace with infrastructural development is the government’s top priority, he said.
“In my lifetime, I have not seen any government that has brought about such a revolutionary change in the health system,” Naseem said.
