The Government of Maldives and UNICEF jointly launched the Primary Health Care (PHC) Investment Case

The Government of Maldives and UNICEF jointly launched the Primary Health Care (PHC) Investment Case this morning. The special event was led by Minister of Health, Hon. Ahmed Naseem in the presence of the UNICEF Representative to Maldives Dr. Edward Addai and representatives from UN agencies in Maldives. 

Primary Health Care serves as the entry point to equitable, accessible and high-quality healthcare services for all. The costed PHC Investment Case launched today provides us with a strategic road map for strengthening PHC in the country including improving efficiency in financial and human resource allocation and use, enhancing health infrastructure and building the capacity of the health sector workforce to deliver quality PHC services to all Maldivian communities.

Maldives still faces many challenges ranging from geographical dispersion to the demographic transition in ensuring equitable healthcare services to its communities. Investing in primary healthcare is critical, to ensure every child survives and thrives, and to safeguard the health and wellbeing of the whole community.

The evidence in the PHC Investment Case shows that investing in primary healthcare yields substantial returns leading to a reduction in overall healthcare system costs. For every 1 MVR invested in scaling up PHC interventions, 16 MVR (1 USD) is gained. The development of the PHC Investment Case calls for enhanced collaborative efforts to strengthen our PHC system and also lays the foundation for shaping the national policies and programs to expedite Maldives’ progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030.

Speaking at the event, the Minister of Health, Hon. Ahmed Naseem noted:

“The primary healthcare investment case offers a transformative perspective on investing in PHC. It presents a roadmap for gradually increasing the allocation of the health sector budget to primary healthcare until 20% of the budget is channelled towards achieving primary healthcare outcomes. This visionary approach seeks to revolutionize our healthcare system within a reasonable timeframe.”

In line with this, the UNICEF Representative Dr. Edward Addai noted that Maldives is doing very well with public health achievements, however, he also stated that Maldives could still do better. He also reaffirmed UNICEF’s commitment to do more together with the Ministry of Health and partners to translate the Investment Case into action and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the health sector.