Mohamed Waheed died of a

Mohamed Waheed, 62, from G. Dh. Madaveli, who passed away at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) last night died of ‘a disease like blood cancer’, claims IGMH. He was hospitalized on the 25th of last month, and his family has claimed that he was being treated for dengue and not for any other diseases.

Speaking to the press at the office of the special Task Force created by the President to fight dengue, Dr. Ali Latheef, temporarily in charge of the management of the biggest hospital in the country, said that the deceased was admitted because of fever, and that the initial diagnosis was identified as dengue because of the symptoms then noticed by the doctors. However, Dr. Latheef said that his final diagnosis was hematological malignancy.

Dr. Latheef said some examinations made while the deceased was under treatment in fact did give rise to suspicions that he was suffering from some other disease than dengue, and that the doctors had not been able to determine his condition with certainty because some necessary tests could not be performed at IGMH. “We acknowledge that we are not able to do some tests here at IGMH. For instance, we are not able to perform well the born-marrow test. As such, we advised the patient to be taken abroad for further examinations and treatment, and we issued the documentation necessary for the procedure”, said Dr. Latheef.

However, Dr. Latheef said that when the advise and written permission for the patient to be taken abroad for treatment was given only two days before his death, and that he was then not in a condition to be transported abroad.

Shiham Mohamed Waheed, son of the victim and Assistant C.E.O. of VTV said last night that despite the claim of the Task Force, his father had been admitted for dengue and that no treatment had been given to him for any other disease. “It happened before my eyes. My father died while under treatment for dengue, when he suffered from hemorrhaging. He did not suffer from any other disease", said Shiham.

Dengue is a deadly fever caused by an arthropod-borne virus carried by Aedes egypti mosquitoes, whose bite transmits the virus to humans, and the disease becomes common in the Maldives every year, during and immediately after the rainy season in June/July. However, the fever had not caused so serious a situation since 2006. This year, 9 have died, including 7 children, and many have blamed the weak management of the health sector by the government for the outbreak which has already claimed nine lives and still seems to be far from being under control.