Medical Welfare, MW

The Medical Welfare (MW) programme in Maldives is one of the initiatives that solely target PHHs (meaning, beneficiaries are only required to be poor to request enrolment in the programme). This is interesting, since the country already has a universal health insurance scheme, the Husnuvaa Aasandha (HA), which covers most health services. Hence, the MW is an additional programme meant to cover the costs of more complex health services not provided by the HA, such as assistance when travelling abroad for medical care; medicines and injections not covered by the HA; a bone marrow programme for people with Thalassemia; assistance for medical treatment provided only by private hospitals; assistance for people with Thalassemia for carrying out specific procedures; and other medical equipment not provided by the HA. Regarding target groups, the MW’s approach is very different from another initiative in Maldives, the Food Subsidy Programme (FSP), which requires beneficiaries to provide foster care to children and additionally that the respective household is considered poor according to the national poverty line.