Mental health hospital to be built in Male’ from state budget following failure to secure loan

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, on Monday, announced that the government’s decision to construct a dedicated mental health hospital using the state budget, following the failure to secure a foreign loan.

During the weekly press briefing held every Monday, the President revealed that since the inclusion of mental health treatments under the national health insurance scheme, Aasandha, earlier this year, 10,954 individuals have sought treatment as of April 24^th.

The President noted that while the initial plan was to develop the mental health hospital with foreign assistance, and significant efforts were made to secure such funding, the procedural delays in loan processing hindered the project's commencement.

"Due to the lengthy procedures involved in securing these loans and the urgent need for enhanced mental health support, we have discussed and decided to fund the construction of the mental health hospital directly from the government budget," the President stated.

He added that government intends to redirect the loan facilities originally sought for the hospital toward other requirements within the healthcare sector.

The President also clarified that while a hospital was previously planned for Laamu Atoll, the government-funded mental health hospital will now be established in Malé. He highlighted that 8,125 individuals from the Malé area alone have sought mental health treatment under Aasandha this year.

"As a significant percentage of the total cases are from the Malé region and many citizens travel to the capital for various services, we have allocated funds within the budget to establish the hospital in Malé. We aim to commence the project shortly through the standard bidding or procurement process," he added.