Lack of legislation bars compensation for damages caused by healthcare services: HRCM

Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has stated that the biggest challenge faced by the Maldives health sector today is the lack of proper legislature and that as a consequence, the parties who seek healthcare services do not have the mechanisms to pursue compensation for damages caused by services providers.

In a press statement released by HRCM on the occasion of World Health Day, the commission noted that a number of vital pieces of legislature needed for the functioning of the Maldives health sector have been stalled in parliament, and that this has compromised the quality of the health services provided in the Maldives.

The commission also stated the public has lost confidence in the health service providers due to a lack of proper redress mechanisms to solve grievances in health services.

The State’s chief human rights institution stated that the parliament and political parties have to make considerable efforts to ensure that health services are adequately provided to the people. They particularly highlighted the lack of legislature governing health services, such as a law on health policies and a law on the minimum standards of healthcare providers as a few of the laws amongst the numerous that are currently required.

Continuing to the topic of “high blood pressure”, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Health Day theme for 2013, the commission stated that recent WHO statistics show that increase in blood pressure is currently the most common aliment in patients and that WHO predictions show the increase in blood pressure is to be the most common cause of disease and mortality in the years to come. The commission said that Maldives is no exception to this trend.

The statement stated that the purpose of marking a World Health Day on an international level is to call on the governments to be aware of the trends of diseases that continue to spread worldwide, and also to create awareness regarding these diseases at individual and organization levels.

HRCM stated that high blood pressure can be prevented by increasing awareness on how to deal with the condition, and called on the government institutions to prioritize the health of the people.

The commission’s statement also reminded that the United Nations International Convention on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) mandates its party states to protect the right to health by ensuring that everyone has access to underlying determinants of health through a comprehensive system of healthcare.