Minister: Overseas postmortems cost over MVR 50K; preparing to launch service in Maldives

Health Minister Geela Ali told the Parliament on Wednesday that the government was preparing to launch postmortem services in the Maldives, adding that it currently costs the state over MVR 50,000 to get it done overseas.

Geela, who was summoned to the Parliament in the morning for a questioning session, said that the state sent 23 bodies overseas for postmortems over the last decade.

She said that it costs MVR 55,000 to get it done even in Trivandrum, India.

This means the state spent at least 1.27 million on postmortems over the last 10 years.

Geela said that the government is working on establishing a Level 2 forensic medical unit for the first time in Maldivian history.

She said that the Male’ City Group of Hospitals in collaborating with other relevant institutions to get this done.

“The service was included in law for the first time in 2015, in order to establish postmortem services in the Maldives. Multiple administrations have taken office since then. It is our administration that has done whatever it can to establish this service in the Maldives,” she said.

Geela said that the establishment of the forensic medical unit will enable the provision of clinical forensic services and postmortem services through an efficient mechanism not just in the capital, but across the country.

According to Geela, the unit will be tasked with:

• Examining the body to identify cause of death in court-ordered cases, and conducting examinations in cases involving sexual or physical assault.
• Conducting forensic examinations in cases involving torture or abuse of prison inmates or detainees.
• Examinations to determine extent of injuries for court cases and insurance claims.

Geela said that the state has allocated both land and a budget to set up the service.

But Geela stressed that the launch of the service requires a lot of preparations, including establishing resources and formulating forensic pathology regulations.

She said that previous administrations had failed to formulate the regulations, despite being mandated by law.

Geela said the government has formulated the regulations, and is in the process of getting it published on the Government Gazette.

“All preparations necessary to launch this service are being carried out simultaneously. And at the same time, the guidelines needed to maintain public confidence when establishing such a service have also been formulated and publicized,” she said.

Postmortems are carried out in the Maldives in suspicious deaths and custodial deaths.