Tag: IGMH

Maldivian mother give birth to conjoined twins

A Maldivian mother has reportedly given birth to conjoined twins in Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

Hospital Spokesperson Zeenath Ali declined to disclose information about the twins, stating that the family had requested that information regarding the incident not be disclosed, and that the hospital’s medical staff also did not wish to disclose any information about the babies.

“Truly, we also do not know about it,” she said, adding that the hospital’s record system “will only show that a person gave birth, and does not include what kind of baby was born or its condition.”

Local newspaper Haveeru, which claimed to have pictures of the twins, reported that they were both female and shared the one heart, and that their condition was serious.

Conjoined twins, also known as ‘Siamese twins’, is a rare phenomenon thought to occur between one in every 50,000 to 100,000 births, with a higher incidence in Southwest Asia and Africa, and a greater frequency among females.

Approximately half conjoined twins are stillborn, while a smaller percentage of those pairs born alive  “have abnormalities incompatible with life”, according to Wikipedia’s entry on the subject.

The overall survival rate for conjoined twins is approximately 25 percent, while most cases of surgery to separate twins are extremely risky and life-threatening.

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Bangladeshi national died in boat accident

A Bangladeshi national working on a boat belonging to Sony Hardware in Malé died on Sunday afternoon.

The boat, named Assidha, was unloading cargo from Thilafushi at the T-Jetty.

The incident was originally reported to police as an accident between a boat and a crane, but was later discovered that the man was loosening the anchor rope on the boat and his chest hit the bow of the boat.

He was taken to IGMH but died during treatment.

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Departing doctors leave IGMH unable to provide outpatient services to children

An acute lack of pediatric specialists in Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) has forced the hospital to temporarily close outpatient services for children, who make up 40 percent of the hospital’s patients.

Zubair Mohamed, Managing Director of Male’ Health Services Corporation – formerly the Chief Executive Officer of IGMH – said that there were only four pediatricians left after many left claiming to have family and personal problems, while others departed on vacation.

Zubair said that low wages and poor allowances were leading doctors to resign and return to their own countries.

”Most of the good doctors we have are from India,” Zubair said.

”They get almost the same salary as if they worked in India, so it’s not worth it for them to work here.”

A recent salary increase for doctors in India has made it even harder for the Maldives to attract and retain qualified medical staff.

Zubair said that the remaining four pediatricians were now working 24 hours on-call in the emergency and IPD units.

”Forty percent of the patients who come to the hospital are children,” Zubair said. ”They are a large group of patients.”

He said that patients hospitalised were now being given more priority than the patients who visited for diagnosis or treatment.

A pediatrician and a second doctor – a talented psychiatric specialist – left the hospital last week on vacation and have not returned.

”They usually leave saying that they have family and personal issues,” Zubair said. ”Only a few directly say that they cannot work for the low salary.”

As a consequence there would be no outpatient pediatric services available this week, he said.

”Hopefully we will get new pediatricians for the hospital very soon and restart services,” Zubair said. ”We need at least six doctors.”

Future of IGMH

When IGMH begins running as a corporation the salaries of doctors will rise and allowances will increase, Zubair promised.

”Right now all the doctors classed are civil servants, ” he explained, ”so we have to follow the regulations of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and cannot provide them the allowances and salary as we would prefer.”

He said the new corporation had held a meeting with the CSC and discussed the matter, and estimated that it would take three months to start IGMH as a health services corporation.

Spokesperson for the CSC Fahmy Hassan said that the Male’ Health Corporation had held a meeting with the commission but ”it was not to discuss the doctor salaries.”

Fahmy said the commission in January asked the Finance Ministry how much they would be able to pay for the doctors salary and said that the commission was not legally authorised to pay any salary the commission wanted.

”We are now paying them the highest possible salary the Finance Ministry has agreed to give,” he said. ”We cannot pay a salary Finance Ministry disagrees with.”

Press secretary for the president Mohamed Zuhair said that the government had nothing to do with the CSC’s code of salary.

”The government will try to solve the problem somehow,” he said.

He said that the salaries of the doctors will increase when IGMH starts running under Male’ Health Corporation, “which was the main reason why we established it,” he said.Permanent Secretary for the Finance Ministry Ismail Shafeeq did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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Man stabbed near ‘neutral city’ park

A 33 year-old man was injured last night in a robbery near the ‘neutral city’ park on Alikileygefaanu Magu, reports Miadhu.

The victim received a serious injury to the head and was stabbed in the stomach. He was taken to IGMH Intensive Care Unit.

The victim was allegedly attacked by a group of people on motorcycles.

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Hospital blunders highlight health system failures

When Fathimath Sudhuna checked into ADK hospital last Friday feeling faint and dizzy, she did not expect it would cause her condition to worsen.

She was asked by a doctor to complete two medical tests: a sugar test and a cholesterol test. Her husband, Ibrahim Shaukath, took her to the hospital pathology for the tests and was asked to wait outside.

“It took a long time for her to come out – I had to ask the nurse why it was taking so long,” Shaukath said.

When she came out he asked her why it had taken so long: she replied that a nurse had given her the wrong injection.

“It was an injection that was supposed to be given to a 15 year old patient,” he said.

Fathimath’s condition deteriorated and she became unable to stand. Shaukath complained that the hospital’s management “did not take it seriously and tried to ignore it, saying it would be ‘all right’.”

”I am not saying this to harm the hospital,” he said. ”I just want to prevent it  from happening to another person.”

Managing Director of ADK Hospital Ahmed Afaal said the incident had been reported and the hospital was investigating. He said he had no information about the patient’s condition worsening after the incident, and was reluctant to speak to the media.

IGMH blunder

A person assisting with a birth at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) last week told Minivan News on condition of anonymity that surgeons had sewn one of the mother’s veins into her skin after an emergency cesarean to remove the baby.

”[The mother] told the doctors that she felt pain in the sewed area,” the assistant said, ”but the doctors did not care to look, they just said it would be all right.”

Three days later, when the woman removed the dressings on the wound, she discovered a red lump underneath.

”She ran to the hospital counter and yelled at them,” the assistant said. ”They started treating her and she was told the doctors had sewn a vein into her skin and blood was stuck in there.”

Another woman who also asked to remain anonymous told Minivan News that a doctor at IGMH had told her husband that he was a heart patient with a high risk of heart attack, and had treated him as such for two months.

Eventually the family sent him to India for medical treatment, where they found out “he did not have any problem with his heart.”

Yet another woman, who identified herself as Zainab, told Minivan News that her son, who was very weak after an attempted suicide and a motorbike accident, was sent home after a single IV.

”We begged them to keep him until he felt better,” she said, ”but they said he would be all right and told us to leave.”

She claimed that her son could not even walk when he was discharged.

Chief Executive Officer of IGMH Zubair Mohamed confirmed such cases had recently been reported to the hospital management.

”We encourage all our patients to complain at the Health Ministry when they face such problems,” Zubair said.

Zubair said everyday 99 per-cent of the patients left with no complaints.

”Doctors and nurses sometimes makes mistakes,” he said.

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Investment in private sector to be worth US$1 billion over three years-President Nasheed

President Mohamed Nasheed has said in his weekly radio address on the Voice of Maldives last Friday that private sector investments in the Maldives will be worth an estimated US$1 billion over the next three years.

President Nasheed said this would be in addition to official development assistance, and discussed details of the investment areas and upcoming projects.

Some of the projects are the upgrade of Malé International Airport and Hanimandhoo airport, expanding Gan airport’s runway, establishing a waste management facility in Thilafushi, Apollo Hospitals taking over Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), the proposed national ferry system, and a project to build 10,000 housing units.

President Nasheed also spoke of the recent Donor’s Conference, saying it “was very successful.” He added that it showed the trust the international community has in the current government.

The president said the US$ 313 million in pledges that was announced at the Donor Conference will go toward developmental assistance and budget support.

President Nasheed added that the sports sector will be restructured, and there will be a national sports institute to oversee development of sports infrastructure.

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Health Minister says government-owned corporations are a good step for health sector

Minister of Health and Family Dr Aminath Jameel has said there will be no loss to the government if health employees have to work under corporations, reports Haveeru.

The government is planning on managing Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), regional hospitals and health centres, under 100 percent government-owned corporations.

The minister said employees will be protected under the Employment Act and Pension Law.

Dr Aminath said employees would not lose their rights and the Health Ministry would regulate the corporations under its regulatory mechanism.

She added that the health sector framework would be amended and salaries are expected to increase.

The minister added that bringing health services closer to the people under corporations would solve the current problems the health sector is facing.

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Hospital charges to remain stable despite Apollo deal, pledges health ministry

The ministry of health has pledged that hospital charges will remain stable at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), even though it is to managed by private company Apollo Hospital Group.

Health Minister Dr Aminath Jameel said the hospital remained a state asset “and we have only handed the management of the hospital over to Apollo.”

The minister also said that IGMH would be turned into a teaching hospital, which would provide training for nurses and paramedics in line with the government’s aim of ensuring at least 80 per cent of hospital staff are Maldivian within 15 years. Currently 60 per cent of the hospital’s nursing staff are foreign.

The health ministry acknowledged that IGMH was not at the standard that a tertiary hospital should be.

“Even though it’s hard to accept, we don’t have the capacity within the country to bring the hospital up to standard. We needed help from a foreign party,” Jameel said.

A situational analysis of the hospital will be conducted in the first three months of new management, after which a work plan will be submitted to the government.”

“We want the hospital to have a good management team to oversee the daily management of services,” Jameel said.

She also offered reassurances that Maldivian jobs would not be lost as part of this deal, and that the agreement was within the Maldivian employment act.

The current ratio at IGMH is three foreign staff for every Maldivian, a statistic Jameel said the ministry hoped to reverse.

Where’s the money?

The ministry paints the deal as very good for the Maldives on paper. But what does Apollo stand to gain?

Zubair Mohamed, CEO of IGMH said the deal with Apollo “wasn’t done to make a profit, but to provide good health care.”

Asked if how Apollo would be able to make a return on their US$20 million investment in the dilapidated Male’ hospital, Zubair said money “was a combined investment made by Apollo, the Indian government and the Maldives – not to be recovered, but to motivate the hospital.”

The benefits would be quickly realised, he said, “and after the first five years, IGMH will have the capacity to train doctors on the job as general practitioners.”

Zubair also said that having a high standard of hospital would open up possibilities for medical tourism, a lucrative sub-sector of the tourism industry in countries like Thailand.

“Having a good hospital means doors are opened for things like wellness tourism and palative care. Even tourists can comfortably have a medical check-up,” Zubair said.

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