The President's visit and the administration's work towards improving the services for thalassemia patients are now coming to some fruition, as the government has now signed an agreement with Cyprus to enhance the treatment and management of thalassemia in the Maldives.
Maldives Bsuiness Times
Since January 2024, thalassemia patients in the Maldives have been facing varying concerns when it came to receiving some essential services. With the lack of improvement in these services over time, by March 2025, patients and family members gathered around to protest to make sure their concerns were heard and addressed. Some of the main concerns raised by the protestors include the failure of the Maldivian Blood Services (MBS) and the National Thalassaemia Centre when it came to providing medicine, malfunctioning equipment that has not been replaced or fixed, and the disposal of blood packets due to filter failures – which can make it even harder to patients to get the essential care that they need.
In addition to these concerns, patients also noted that starting in January 2024, MBS had failed to issue medication directly to thalassemia patients, creating more bureaucracy as patients were required to get the medicine from pharmacies. With these concerns being dismissed for over a year, on 23 March 2025, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu visited the National Thalassaemia Centre this morning, met patients, listened to their concerns, and observed daily operations to improve thalassaemia care.
The President's visit and the administration's work towards improving the services for thalassemia patients are now coming to some fruition, as the government has now signed an agreement with Cyprus to enhance the treatment and management of thalassemia in the Maldives. Under the agreement, the Maldives will be seeking the support of experienced medical professionals from Cyprus when it comes to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Thalassemia. In addition to taking preventative measures, this collaboration with Cyprus will also help strengthen the services provided by MBS and facilitate the provision of specialist consultations through teleconferencing. Last but not least, Cyprus is also set to support the development of human resources in the health sector of the country, particularly in areas related to thalassemia care.
This will be a major step forward when it comes to improving the care provided to thalassemia patients in the Maldives, as the Cyprus National Thalassemia program is known to be instrumental in reducing the burden of thalassemia by focusing on carrier screening, prenatal diagnosis, and genetic counselling since1973.
The agreement was signed by Maldives' Health Minister Abdulla Nazim and Cyprus’ Health Minister Michael Damianos.
