The government of India and Maldives on Sunday, hosted the 1st Joint Working Group (JWG) under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to bolster cooperation in the field of health.
The two delegations were led by Indian Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Preeti Sudan and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Khadeeja Abdulla, respectively.
Discussions centred on several thematic areas of the health sector, including;
India will train doctors, nurses and other relevant health professionals at leading Indian institutes and through online mediums.
Both nations will collaborate on infrastructural development, disease surveillance, research capacity development and risk assessment in the field of Anti-Microbial Drug Resistance (AMR), disaster management and geo-climatic risk conditions prevalent to both countries. India will support Maldives in data compilation, data analysis and field epidemiology.
Moreover, India will assist in replicating IT platforms for health centres and develop standard treatment workflows and clinical decision support systems.
India will supply pharmaceuticals at affordable rates to the country and provide technical support in Pharmaceutical test development.
India holds 30 percent of the global market share in pharmaceutical sales.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on December, 2019, that an oncology hospital would be established in reclaimed suburb of Hulhumale'.
Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) of India would provide technical assistance in cancer treatment and prevention facilities in the country.
Further, RCC will aid the Cancer Centre of state-run Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital and other medical institutions across Maldives.
"Mental health is a growing concern in the region" said the circular released by the Indian Embassy in Maldives.
India is preparing to collaborate and conduct a situational analysis and assess mental health care delivery systems, in addition to capacity building training for mental health professionals.
India will further develop telemedicine, teleradiology and initiating a 'Digital Health Framework in the Maldives'.
India is the current Chair of the Global Digital Health Partnership (GDHP) of the World Health Organization (WHO).