Director general of WHO visits Maldives

Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Margaret Chan has visited the Maldives on invitation from the Minister of Health Aiminath Jameel.

Chan said there were two main purposes of her visit to the Maldives, “to see how the WHO is working with the government and to see the economic impacts of climate change on the country.”

Chan said the government had done ”very well” with the health sector and been particularly successful in controlling communicable diseases, such as the H1N1 virus.

She said non-communicable diseases, such as mental health, remained a significant challenge for the country.

She also noted that a significant percentage of the country’s medical staff were expatriate, including 60 per cent of its nurses and 90 per cent of its doctors.