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8,000 people in need of permanent medication in the south, mostly in Kolamaafushi

Malika Shahid
11 September 2022, MVT 14:33
[File]Viyavathi conference held with company heads and council presidents
Malika Shahid
11 September 2022, MVT 14:33

Maldives largest medicine importer, State Trading Organization (STO) said that the number of people who need medication permanently in the four southernmost provinces alone has reached 8,000.

Managing Director of STO, Husen Amru made the statement during the "Viyavathi" conference held at Ihaddhoo School, Laamu atoll Gan, with the Managing Directors and Council Presidents of the companies participating in the Viyavathi conference.

He spoke about the biggest difficulty in delivering medicines so far, which is the unknown number of people who are permanently taking medication in the islands.

STO sought out the number of patients taking medication permanently in Thaa atoll, Gaafu Alifu atoll, Gaafu Dhaalu atoll, Fuahmulah and Addu city, as part of its efforts to find a solution to the problem, he said.

Referring to data collected by STO, he said there are 8,722 people in need of permanent medical treatment in the four atolls.

Amru said the number of people in need of permanent treatment has not been ascertained so far. Hence medicine was sent in smaller quantities to islands with a small population and more was sent to islands with larger populations. However, he noted that the problem has now been resolved.

Amru said Kolamaafushi has the highest number of people with diabetes from the southern atolls. There are 106 people on medication for cholesterol and 122 people on medication for high blood pressure in island, he said. However, Kolamaafushi has an average population of 700-800 people.

According to him, smaller islands use up more medicine compared to larger larger islands and run out of medicine faster.

According to statistics collected by STO, excluding Fuahmulah and Addu city, the highest number of people on permanent medication are from Gaafu Alifu atoll, Kolamaafushi.

"Two-thirds of the people in this island [Kolamaafushi] are on permanent medication. Before this, we didn't know why the medicines ran out. Now we have organized to send medicines to the island before it runs out," Amru said.

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