According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, plans are in motion to screen foreign nationals entering the Maldives for filariasis during their work permit medical examination.
The Health Ministry made this announcement after filariasis cases were found in the Maldives. There have been reports of 26 cases of the illness thus far. According to the Health Protection Agency (HPA), each of them is an expat employed in the Maldives.
Speaking at PSM’s “Raajje Miadhu” programme, Dr. Mohamed Waheed, Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health stated “When work permits are made medical, we only screen for diseases like hepatitis, HIV and tuberculosis,”.
According to Ashraf, there have been previous discussions about including the work permit for filariasis screening in the medical system, but it is currently not part of it.
He claimed that the system in place at work permit medical to screen these individuals is the best feature.
“How crucial is this inclusion in work permit medicine, and how can we identify the patients we acquire using work permit mechanisms? We’re talking about the issue.”
According to the Ministry of Health, plans are in motion to screen Maldivians and foreigners for filariasis. Discussions are now in progress. There are now 26 cases of filariasis in Hulhumale overall.
The illness filariasis was previously declared eradicated in the nation. The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared in 2016 that the Maldives had completely eradicated the disease. But the Maldives is now experiencing a resurgence of the illness. Health officials claim that a test at a medical camp in Kulhudhuffushi was the first to identify the disease.
HPA has been using social media platforms to provide information about the disease in an effort to raise public awareness of it.
