Editorial - Travelling is not the biggest challege faced by the Maldives health sector :: Dhivehi Observer

Editorial
Travelling is not the biggest challenge faced by the Maldives health sector

By A. S. I. Moosa (Sappe'), 16 Sept. 2005

World Health Organization donated two speed boats to be used in the health sector of Maldives this week. This was part of the aid WHO collected to help Maldives after the tsunami last December.

In a low key ceremony, the speedboats were handed over to the Health Minister Ilyas Ibrahim in Male' on 14^th September, during which he said that "travelling is the biggest challenge faced by the health sector" in Maldives. However, that is not the case and obviously he is just saying something because he has to say something at such a ceremony like this, low key or not.

The fact of the matter is that there has been no desire to develop the health sector over the last 27 years of Gayyoom's oppressive rule. There has been no heartfelt desire to provide adequate healthcare throughout the country. The standard of healthcare provided in Male' is by far better than in any island but even in Male' the services are insufficient and most importantly too expensive for an average person. This is not because of lack of vision or affordability, it is simply lack of desire and refusal to understand that basic healthcare is a right of everyone in Maldives.

Former Health Minister Ahmed Abdulla managed the main Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, which was a gift from the people of India to the people of Maldives, as a business and referred to patients as customers. If someone in an ordinary family fell ill, then they can expect a few months' salaries to vanish in a few hours. The sad thing is that if the illness is serious, they have to beg around and get a few hundred dollars and go to India or Sri Lanka for treatment. That is clear proof of how disgracefully the sector has been neglected by Dictator Gayyoom.

Walking across Male' harbour especially near the government offices and in front of Gayyoom's multimillion dollar office complex, you will see several speedboats moored belonging to different government entities. If there had been any desire to reach out to government's own resources - these speedboats belongs to us and not Gayyoom, let us be absolutely clear about that as well - to improve the logistics for the health sector as now claimed, this could have been done with ease. Gayyoom's own fleet consists 20 vessels including multimillion dollar yachts and luxury speedboats. The total cost of which is much greater than the total cost of the land and see combined transportation vehicles used in the health and education sector. It really is an absolute disgrace that we are allowing this to continue.

We have heard so many times how sick people die in their remote islands because they do not have access to proper care and medication or because they are unable to get to Male'. We hear about pregnant women dying due to lengthy delays in transporting them to a medical facility. These facts do not bother Gayyoom and his associates simply because when they or a family member falls ill, they can simply charter a flight to Singapore at will. They are so affluent and wealthy.

Yes, transportation is a key factor in the service but it is not the biggest challenge for Maldives. The evidence is staring right in our face. Walk around the capital and you will see enormous and mighty buildings that have cost us millions of dollars. For Gayyoom, his personal palace and offices are much more important than anything else. Hospitals and schools are at the bottom end of his priority list. Gayyoom's inability to appoint decent people to the post of Health Minister (or other important cabinet portfolios for that matter) is yet another proof of his unwillingness to serve people as they deserve to be served.

It is easy to chatter nice words and make statements but the truth is that people like current Health Minister does not work for the people. He lives in a multimillion dollar mansion and is above the law - a convicted thief who embezzled millions from the treasury which earned him a state paid 4 year holiday abroad - and his only aim is to remain in a powerful government position hoping that one day he can oust his brother in law and be the next president of Maldives.

The biggest challenge facing the health sector of Maldives is the continued dictatorship of Gayyoom. We need more doctors and nurses, we need more hospitals, we need more health centres, and we need the service to be efficient and affordable. These are the things denied to us by the dictator.