Maldives health profile 2014
The health care delivery system of Maldives is organized into a four-tier referral system with the island level health facilities referring patients to higher level health facilities in the atolls, regions and to central level depending upon the need and service availability. The government is committed to improving the health services in the country and improving the accessibility of services at the very peripheral levels, which due to the dispersed nature of the population in very small islands exerts diseconomies of scale. Having experienced several fall backs of the divided and corporatized health care delivery initiated in the year 2009, several steps has been taken to bring back the health facilities under the leadership of Ministry of Health and Gender but managed in a decentralized system. To provide financial security and ensure better access to healthcare, all citizens of the Maldives are now covered by a universal health insurance scheme “Aasandha”, fully financed by the government. This booklet intends to give a brief overview of the current health situation in the country including access to services and health resources.