Transport services in the Maldives : an unmet need for health service delivery

Aboobakuru, Maimoona

dc.contributor.author	Aboobakuru, Maimoona
dc.date.accessioned	2023-04-09T04:50:45Z
dc.date.available	2023-04-09T04:50:45Z
dc.date.issued	2014
dc.identifier.citation	Aboobakuru, M. (2014). Transport services in the Maldives : an unmet need for health service delivery. Transport and Communications Bulletin for Asia and the Pacific. (84), 1-13.	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://saruna.mnu.edu.mv/jspui/handle/123456789/14263
dc.publisher	Transport Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific	en_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries	Transport and Communications Bulletin for Asia and the Pacific;84
dc.title	Transport services in the Maldives : an unmet need for health service delivery	en_US
dcterms.abstract	The article aims to look at the use of transportation in the delivery of health services in the Maldives. Being a small island nation with thousands of tiny islands scattered in a vast area of sea, transportation is an important factor for equitable access to services. Providing services to a great majority of islands with small population sizes has proved challenging and resource intensive. The diseconomies of scale, and retaining and sustaining the health-care work force have continued to be major challenges. The government of Maldives stayed committed to improving the health situation and the steady focus it has given to maternal and child health fared well for the overall health development. The maternal death review process initiated in the 1990s and efforts to improve on the process resulted in addressing specific care related needs. Maldives achieved the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 4 and 5 well ahead of the targeted time frame. The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) declined from a high of 500 per 100,000 live births in 1990 to less than 50 per 100,000 live births at present. However, the lack of an organized public transport system increased the burden for the equitable provision of health care and was a setback to the 4-tier referral health care delivery system. The health sector approach of mobile outreach did not prove sustainable due to the high cost of maintenance and therefore continued with increased diseconomies of scale in providing health care to the sea locked small populated communities.