Category: Society & Culture

Health authorities focus on mosquito controls as hospital confirms infant dengue fatality

Male’s Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) has confirmed that a nine-month old child died today from dengue fever as health officials look to combat further spread of the virus through attempts to control mosquito numbers.

Hospital spokesperson Zeenath Ali confirmed that the child was pronounced dead at 12:27am after being admitted with suspected dengue fever two days earlier.  Ali added that she was unable to give any further details of the specific strain of the virus that the child was thought to have suffered from or any additional details about the death without the consent of the infant’s family.

According to figures supplied by the Male’ Health Services Corporation Limited, a total of 59 people have been admitted to hospital between June 1 and June 20 this year suffering from the virus. Of these cases, six were admitted on suspicion of catching dengue fever, 50 were hospitalised with the dengue hemorrhagic variant of the virus and three others were diagnosed with dengue shock syndrome – where blood pressure drops so low that organs cannot function properly. Over the same period, 25 people were diagnosed by the hospital of having dengue fever and were treated as outpatients.

Early symptoms of virus are said to include fever, joint paint and a distinctive rash and headache, although it can be difficult to distinguish from the milder Chikungunya disease which can last for up to five days. However, even healthy adults can be left immobile by dengue for several weeks while the disease runs its course.

More than 300 cases of dengue fever in the Maldives were reported during the first two months of 2011, compared with 737 cases and two fatalities reported over the course of last year. While many of these cases were reported in Male’, most of the fatalities have been islanders, with the more serious cases thought to have disproportionately affected children.

Amidst these concerns, health authorities in the country have claimed that they are committed to a programme of working to control mosquito populations to try and combat the spread of the virus, particularly in island areas.

Geela Ali, Permanent Secretary for the Health Ministry, told Minivan News that while officials had not received any official reports of recent fatalities linked to dengue as of yesterday, there was concern in the ministry about outbreaks of the virus across the country of late.

Ali claimed that under present government health strategies, clinicians were being put at the forefront of efforts to try and provide local people with the best means to prevent potential infection of the virus, particularly in its more prominent forms like the type 1 strain.

“The main challenge is working with clinicians to pass on case management strategies to local clinics,” she said. “One of things we are trying to do is control [mosquito populations] and we are consulting with local councils and even the media in trying to do this.”

According to Ali, the hones for trying to combat dengue in the country remained on encouraging the public to locate and destroy mosquito breeding areas as to reduce incidences of the virus as effectively as possible.

While accepting that additional chemical spraying around various islands was one possibility being considered by the government  to stem the problem, she added this was strictly to be used only after clean ups of breeding grounds particularly on private property had taken place to ensure long-term effectiveness.

Earlier this year, the Centre for Community Health and Disease Control (CCHDC) and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) conducted spraying of mosquito breeding sites in Male’ and the surrounding islands, but reported difficulty obtaining access to residential and construction sites.

Virus management

Back in April, Minivan News reported that health experts believed fears over a growing number of dengue fatalities was potentially related to lapses in managing the disease, particularly due to the high turnover of foreign doctors on islands.

Dr Ahmed Jamsheed, a former head of the CCHDC, observed that January and February 2011 had seen higher instances of suspected dengue shock syndrome occurring in the country.

“Our initial theory was that this was a new strain of dengue,” he said. “There are four different strains, and strains one and three have been most prevalent. We took samples and sent them abroad but I had left the office by the time the results came back. I’m told out of the samples we sent a few tested positive for dengue one, which means no new strain.”

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Climate change and “practical” development among talking points as Gayoom visits Bangladesh

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has called on members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to be more realistic in their aims for collaborative development during a visit to Bangladesh this week.

Gayoom, who was invited to the country by the University of Science and Technology of Chittagong (USTC) to attend a convocation scheduled for tomorrow (June 29), was reported to have asked SAARC leaders to be “practical” and outline more achievable developments in the region, according to the local Daily Star newspaper.

While unaware of the exact purpose of Gayoom’s visit, which has included meeting Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, parliamentary supporters of the former president claimed that the apparent statesman-like nature of his comments did not signify a return to active politics beyond attempts to try and settle divides within the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) that he helped found.

Outside of the domestic political sphere, the 73-year old former head of state has this week been speaking to local media about his own concerns on the importance of addressing issues like climate change and higher education, along with outlining what he perceives as the main challenges facing SAARC nations.

Gayoom said he believed that technical limitations and issues of resources had set SAARC members back in the “very high goals” set by each nation, though he said he believed the organisation had not failed in its plans and had great potential – particularly from regional enterprise.

“There must be more cooperation among the private sector of the SAARC countries,” the Daily Star quoted him as saying.

A spokesperson for President Mohamed Nasheed, who in 2008 successfully unseated Gayoom after 30 years in power during the country’s first ever democratic general elections, was not available for comment at the time of going to press on the visit.

Gayoom retired from active politics in early 2010, appointing  MP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali as leader of the country’s main opposition party.

The former president remains a divisive figure in Maldivian life and politics following 30 years of autocratic rule that has inspired fierce support and criticism in equal measure depending  on individual political persuasion in the country.

However, MP DRP Ahmed Mahlouf, who along with Gayoom has been linked to the factional Z-DRP movement that now opposes incumbent party leader Thasmeen, said the former president remained a popular figure among SAARC member states for his work in the field of regional development.

“He has done a lot for the region and I wouldn’t be surprised if SAARC leaders praise him for his efforts,” he said.

Despite his reputation, Mahlouf said that the visit to Bangladesh should not be seen as an indication that Gayoom would run for president in 2013, adding that the former president had shown no interest to change his mind on retiring from front line politics.

“[Gayoom] has not really been commenting much on the current government despite concerns he has.  Right now he is working to try his best and solve disputes within the DRP, something Thasmeen is trying to prevent,” he claimed.

“I would like to see him form a new party under his own image.”

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Parliament accepts Police Integrity Commission Act for vote

The parliament today accepted the Police Integrity Commission Act presented by People’s Alliance (PA) MP Abdu-Raheem Abdulla, with the objective of making the Police Integrity Commission an independent body.

Out of the 67 MPs present, 36 MPs voted to accept the bill for preliminary debate and decide whether or not to pass it into law.

According to the bill, members of political parties or political activists would be banned from being member of the commissions.

The father, mother, son, daughter, wife or husband of a police officer would also be blocked from being a member of the commission, according to the bill.

Appointing members to the commission would be parliament’s responsibility, and a member of the commission could be dismissed if a parliament majority found that person incompetent or incapable.

The President of the Commission also will be determined by the parliament in a sitting by popular vote.

The PIC currently operates under the Police Act, and the Commissioner appointed by the President.

According to the bill, it would be prohibited for the PIC to disclose any information a commission member receives in an investigation unless for the investigative purposes of a lawful body.

Parliament’s finance committee is responsible for determining the wages and allowances of the commission members, the bill states.

The police are obliged to inform the commission within 24 hours if anyone dies, attempts suicide or is seriously injured while under police charge, according to the Integrity Commission Act.

The bill also rescinds all articles concerning the Police Integrity Commission from the Police Act.

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Islam allows use of drugs for medical treatment, says Zuhair

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair has said that Islam permits the use of narcotics under exceptional circumstances, such as in the treatment of drug addicts.

Speaking at a ceremony last night marking International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, prominent religious scholar Sheikh Ilyas Hussein said that even a small amount of drugs were not allowed in Islam, and claimed that illegal drugs “are no cure”.

‘’These religious scholars lack information on the topic, they don’t really have adequate information on drug abuse treatment,’’ Zuhair said. ‘’Scholars have to collect more information before they preach.’’

Zuhair explained that opiates were commonly used as pain killers, and questioned why illegal drugs would be disallowed under Islam if it permitted opiates to be injected into the body prior to painful operations.

‘’The government’s aim is to reduce the amount of new drug users, and we have seen progress,’’ he said. ‘’Police statistics show a 50 percent reduction in new drug users last year compared to previous years.’’

Zuhair credited the government’s decision to combine three sessions of school a day into one session with reducing the number of young people on the streets with nothing to do, placing them at risk of drugs and gang involvement.

‘’Formerly when we had three sessions, children studying in the first session would finish school at midday and go home. His mother and father would not be around and he had a lot of free time without anything to do,’’ Zuhair explained. ‘’Then he goes out and join the gangs and starts doing drugs.’’

Zuhair also said penalties and treatments for hard drugs and soft drugs in the Maldives were different in other countries, but said that in the Maldives users of both hard and soft drugs received the same penalties and treatment.

He signaled the government’s intention to seek amendment to these laws, but said this would depend on the level of public awareness and understanding of the issues.

Sheikh Ilyas in his speech last night said that is was impossible to combat the drug issue by administering drugs in increasingly small doses.

He said that the penalty for taking drugs was 40 lashes if it was the first time and more for second time, with harsher penalties also permitted under Islam.

A former drug addict told Minivan News that he agreed with Sheikh Ilyas and that the best method was “stopping it at once”.

‘’I myself tried to recover taking it little by little, and it did not work for me,’’ he said. ‘’There are some others who tried that method and succeeded, but most of the time it is successful only if you try to stop it at once.’’

He said the most important thing for addicts seeking to stop taking drugs was the support from people around him or her, “especially friends and family.”

‘’He has to understand that he is suffering the consequences of his own actions and has to go through the pain [or withdrawal], understanding that it does not last forever and that taking drugs again as a temporary cure is not a permanent solution,’’ he said.

He described the rehabilitation facilities in the Maldives as “useless places.”

“Firstly, the government needs to bring major amendments to the laws, categorising drugs and bringing in other changes to overcome the drug issue,’’ he said.

Society needed to be more aware of illegal drugs and how to cure addiction, he suggested.

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Scale of Maldives drug use and addiction uncertain: UNICEF

Many Maldivians are still failing to understand the difference between drug abuse and addiction, with the full scale of narcotics use in the country yet to come to light, UNICEF’s resident representative said today.

The comments by Zeba Tanvir Bukhari were made during the launch of a new toll-free helpline for local people and communities affected by the trade of illegal drugs in the country.

Speaking this morning at a ceremony at Dharubaaruge  to unveil the hotline, alongside representatives from the Ministry of Health and Family and President Mohamed Nasheed, Bukhari said that EU-funded programme was designed to offer drug users support in trying to overcome addiction.

“The helpline will be able to tell if one has an addiction problem or not. Most people are not able to substantiate between abuse and addiction,” she said. “The information provided by the helpline will be highly effective for enabling many to recognise the symptoms [of addiction] in order to seek proper relief measures. It can help in referring people to an intervention programme for drug abuse and HIV/AIDs-related treatment, support and care.”

The launch of the toll-free service coincided with the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking and represents a collaboration between the UN, the EU, Maldivian health authorities, local telecoms providers like Wataniya and the government.

The service, which can be accessed by dialling the number 1410 locally, was inaugurated by President Nasheed who spoke with a counsellor via a video screen during today’s promotional launch event.

Outside of the hotline launch, the president has vowed to crackdown on the country’s illegal narcotics trade in a week that has seen police arrested a suspected high-profile drugs kingpin.  This pledge was itself followed by local media  reports of further security crackdowns on shipments at the Maldives’ main shipping ports by the armed forces.

As part of attempts to try and help tackle drug issues at both international and community level, Unicef Resident Representative Bukhari said that although the new helpline would actively try and provide assistance for Maldivians struggling with the effects of drug use, it would be open to anyone who was concerned with issues relating to potential addiction.

“The helpline can guide an individual through specific problems such as avoiding risk factors that that can pose a relapse. The helpline isn’t only for problem drug users, but for co-dependents, family and friends or professionals seeking support in other forms,” she added.

Scale of the problem

According to statistics from a UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) study released just last week, 210 million people aged between 15 to 64 years of age –almost five per cent of the world’s population – were believed to have tried illegal drugs or other “illicit” substances at least once during 2010.

Although official figures are not presently available regarding drug use and levels of addiction in the Maldives, Bukhari claimed that the first ever scientifically rigorous drug-use study to be conducted in the Maldives was currently underway. Once published, she said the report was expected to provide a true picture of the scale of drug dependency facing people aged between 15 to 64 living in the country.

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Police examine three suspected ‘mothers’ of abandoned newborn discovered on Thinadhoo

Police have examined three women in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll Gahdhoo suspecting that one of them might be the mother of the newborn baby found abandoned inside a garage in Thinadhoo in the same atoll.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said the three women have been examined by a doctor, and that details of their medical reports would be later given to the media.

Gadhoo Island Council issued a press statement after islanders of Gahdhoo obstructed police a police team from Thinadhoo from taking the three women to Thinadhoo to have them examined by a doctor.

In the statement, Gahdhoo Council claimed that islanders of Thinadhoo had blamed the three women of Gahdhoo in an attempt to sabotage the island’s reputation.

The three suspected women went to Thinadhoo on the day the newborn baby was discovered “for different purposes.” the council stated.

The three were examined by Gahdhoo hospital, and medical reports showed that they had not delivered a baby recently, the council said.

Two of the women work in Gahdhoo hospital, while the other is a school teacher, the council added.

The islanders on Gahdhoo gathered near the police station on the island refusing to allow the three women be taken to another island for medical examinations.

Meanwhile, during the police operations to trace the baby’s mother, a 28 year-old woman was arrested in Nilandhoo of Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll on suspicions that she had aborted a baby recently.

Sub-Inspector Shiyam said the woman was currently being investigated on suspicion of having aborted a child.

Abortion is illegal in the Maldives outside of exceptional circumstances.

The religious Adhaalath Party has recently campaigned that women should be subject to Islamic Sharia law should they be found guilty of aborting a child.

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Police arrest suspected drug kingpin after months of investigations

Police have arrested an individual suspected of being one of the Maldives’ most high-profile drug dealers after spending several months collecting information about his procedures for importing narcotics into the country.

The Head of the police’s Drug Enforcement Department (DED), Superintendent Mohamed Jinah, told members of the press that the alleged drug lord was arrested Friday (June 24), along with several companions also suspected of involvement in supplying drugs.

Jinah identified the suspected dealer as Ibrahim ‘Shafa’ Shafaz, 30, of Lonumidhi in Maafannu ward.

Details of three of his companions – also suspected of involvement in the drug ring – were also revealed. Jinah identified them as Ismail Shameem, 30, of Thaa Atoll Thimarafushi, Hussein Atheek, 27, of Fehi in Maafannu ward and Hussein Athif, 25, of Kudhehige in Maafannu ward.

Jinah claimed that Shafaz has been suspected of importing drugs to the Maldives since 2005, with police having since labelled him as one of the country’s most high profile drug traffickers.

About 896 grams of illegal drugs were said to have been discovered inside his apartment following a police raid of the premises on Friday.  The apartment, which was rented in a building belonging to MP ‘Redwave’ Ahmed Saleem, contained a number of tools that could be used to pack drugs, while powdered narcotics were also found.

According to police, Ismail Shameem’s alleged role in the network was to distribute the drugs in small packets – originally bought in kilograms -while Hussein Atheek is suspected of transferring money to the network in Sri Lanka.

Hussein Athif is suspected by police of playing the most important role in the whole network by communicating with an agent in Sri Lanka in order to safely traffic drugs to the Maldives.

Jinah said the traffickers have been using an authorised money exchange company called A J Amporium to send funds to Sri Lanka, while another company named MC Galleria is alleged to have been receiving the money.

The drugs are believed to have been imported via Sri Lankan Airlines, though Jinah said these three companies were not suspected of being knowingly involved in the drug trafficking.

He said between February to April of this year, Rf1.3 million of drugs were trafficked in to the Maldives by this network.

Jinah claimed Shafaz had last year bought a shop named ‘Charm’ for Rf150,000 (US$9700) that was sold this month for Rf200,000.

Shafaz is also believed to rent three apartments in Male’, with one property having been rented for 21 years for Rf300,000.

He also owns a tailor shop which he bought for Rf200,000 (US$13,000) for 15 years, a shop in Kaafu Atoll Maafushi, a Suzuki Swift car for Rf180,000 (US$11,673), later sold for Rf170,000.

Jinah said a special DED operation to try and seize the suspect began in 2009 with significant cooperation from the Prosecutor General and Criminal Court.

Speaking from his office this morning, President Mohamed Nasheed said that police were now looking to investigate the exact methods of money transfer thought to have been used by the alleged drug dealers.

Nasheed claimed this morning that even if the investigation ended up being linked to his mother and father, he would not step back in fulfilling his pledge to clamp down on the drug trade.

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Comment: States obligated to compensate and rehabilitate torture victims

Torture is a brutal attempt to destroy a person’s sense of dignity and sense of human worth. It acts also as a weapon of war, spreading terror beyond its direct victims to communities and societies.

On the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, we honour the men and women who have suffered, enduring their ordeal with courage and inner strength. We mourn, too, those who did not survive.

States must take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under their jurisdiction. There are no exceptional circumstances whatsoever – whether a state of war, or a threat of war, internal political instability, or any other public emergency or national security situation. States’ obligations also include the duty to provide effective and prompt redress, compensation and rehabilitation for all torture victims.

Returning to ordinary life after torture is hard. The United Nations Trust Fund for Victims of Torture assists individuals and organisations around the world to ease physical and psychological pain, re-start shattered lives and support the right to truth and justice through legal assistance.  I thank those Governments and other contributors who make this assistance possible, and I call on all members of the international community to support the Fund. I also commend the many individuals and organisations that provide medical, psychological, legal and social assistance to victims of torture and their families.

The recent entry into force of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances is a welcome addition to the body of international human rights law, since enforced disappearance is yet another manifestation of torture. I appeal to all Members States to allow full and unhindered access by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to places where people are deprived of liberty in their country. I also call on all States that have not done so to ratify the Convention against Torture, and to allow individual complaints by victims under its instruments.

At a time when the legitimate aspirations of people in many regions of the world for greater freedom, dignity and a better life are too often met with violence and repression, I urge States to respect the fundamental rights of all people.

Torture and other forms of cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment and punishment, wherever they occur and whatever the circumstances, can never be justified.

Ban Ki-Moon is the Secretary General of the United Nations.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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“Discrepancies” prompt MNDF to oversee IT upgrade to curb labour trafficking

The Maldives will not become “a nest for human trafficking”, President Mohamed Nasheed pledged during his weekly radio address, although he acknowledged “many failures in the efforts by government agencies to maintain expatriate records.”

Speaking during his weekly radio address, Nasheed said there were discrepancies between the numbers of expatriate workers reported by the Human Resources, Youth and Sports and the Department of Immigration and Emigration.

The Human Resources Ministry claimed there were 74,000 foreign workers in the country, Nasheed said, while records at the Department of Immigration said there were 94,000 – suggesting that at least six percent of the country’s population is unaccounted for.

Nasheed said the government estimated that 40,000 expatriates in the country were working illegally. The situation had reached “an alarming level”, he said, “due to failure to investigate illegal workers, and lack of a systematic approach to [monitor] arrivals, employment and living conditions of expatriates.”

The President said he had tasked the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) with overseeing the upgrade of IT and infrastructure at both the Human Resources Ministry and the Immigration Department.

He also announced the launch of a special police investigation into “any unlawful activity that might have led to the increasing number of illegal workers.”

“We will do everything possible to make the Maldives a country that respects human dignity, and ensure all Maldivians respect human rights and pursue a civilised lifestyle,” Nasheed said.

The government has placed greater urgency on addressing the problem of labour trafficking amid wider concerns over the health of the economy – particularly the foreign currency shortage. One report from the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) estimates that every expatriate worker remits US$100 per month to their families back home, for a total drain of US$8 million every month – a greater amount than the country earns from its new Tourism Goods and Services Tax.

By far the greatest number of expatriate labourers in the country are Bangladeshi nationals, and to a much lesser extent, Sri Lanka.

Former High Commissioner of Bangladesh Professor Selia Mohsin told Minivan News last year that 40 Bangladeshi nationals were arriving at the High Commission’s reception desk daily, “having come to the Maldives and found they have nothing to do”. She claimed that unscrupulous employment brokers in both countries were exploiting potentially hundreds of millions of dollars a year from illiterate and uneducated rural Bangladeshi families desperate for better opportunities.

Under Maldivian law, foreign workers arriving in the Maldives must have a work permit issued by the Immigration Department. This is obtained through an employer or agent, who must first request a foreign worker quota from the Ministry of Trade and Human Resources.

“The Maldivian [side] gets into connection with the Bangladeshi brokers, gets a business permit from the Ministry of Human Resources, says they want to recruit and gets a quota for more workers than they require – if they require any at all – and then ask a Bangladeshi counterpart to bring in the workers,” Professor Mohsin told Minivan News last year.

Brokers charged individual workers up to US$4000 to arrange their employment in the Maldives, she said, explaining that in many cases the family home and land was sold or mortgaged to raise this fee, split two-thirds in favour of the Maldivian broker.

One case that arrived on her desk – an application approved by the Ministry of Human Resources – was a request for 1800 workers for an unspecified construction project.

“Those people would have come [to Male’] had I not checked. Had I not done it, 1800 people would have sold their homes and become delinquent in the Maldives. This did not bother a Maldivian broker,” she said at the time. “Hell is not good enough for the people who are doing this.”

More recently, Immigration Controller Abdulla Shahid revealed that Bangladeshi nationals will be issued work visas by the Maldives High Commission in the national capital of Dhaka, in an attempt to address booming numbers of workers arriving in the country. These workers would require additional documents verified and issued in Bangladesh before their work visas and ID cards could be issued in the Maldives.

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