The Government is set to significantly strengthen healthcare delivery across its outer atolls, with the Ministry of Health confirming that specialised medical launches for atoll hospitals will be operational by the end of January under the Maldives Health Line initiative.
Health Minister Abdulla Nazim said the provision of dedicated marine transport assets is a critical component in reinforcing the referral and service-delivery network linking regional hospitals with island-based health centres. He noted that reliable inter-island transportation is fundamental to ensuring continuity of care.
According to the minister, the availability of launches will substantially reduce logistical and operational constraints faced by specialist physicians and clinical teams based at regional hospitals, enabling them to conduct regular outreach clinics and on-site consultations. This, he said, will improve equitable access to secondary and specialised healthcare services for residents of remote islands.
Minister Nazim stressed that a consolidated and institutionalised transport framework is essential for the effective functioning of the national healthcare system. In this regard, the ministry is in the process of allocating seven medical launches to regional and atoll hospitals that currently lack such assets. He confirmed that, by the end of the month, all atolls in the Maldives will have dedicated launches in place to support the Health Line system.
The Ministry of Health stated that the initiative is being implemented through a collaborative partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), under its Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility (APVAX) Project. The programme is designed to enhance health system resilience and improve service delivery capacity nationwide.
Officials highlighted that the introduction of medical launches will facilitate a range of critical public health functions, including the timely transportation of vaccines under cold-chain requirements, the transfer of biological and laboratory specimens for diagnostic testing within clinically acceptable timeframes, and the expansion of preventive and curative outreach programmes.
The launches have been custom-fitted with medical-grade equipment to support patient transfers, including emergency evacuations, thereby strengthening pre-hospital care and emergency medical response capabilities across the atolls.
Under the APVAX project, three of the seven designated launches have already arrived in Malé City, with the remaining vessels expected to be delivered shortly.
As part of the broader Maldives Health Line initiative, a total of 20 multipurpose high-speed medical launches will be distributed across all 20 atolls, marking a significant step towards improving healthcare accessibility, emergency preparedness, and health equity throughout the country.