The Office of the President-elect has requested the government to postpone the signing of an agreement to import medicine from an Indian company.
At a press conference, Spokesperson Mohamed Firuzul said that President-elect Dr. Mohamed Muizzu is concerned over the government's plan to sign an agreement with an Indian company to import medicine and medical equipment during the transition process. He detailed that the government plans to sign the agreement between the State Trading Organisation (STO) and a company based in Tamil Nadu, India.
Spokesperson Firuzul said that the President-elect requests the government to refrain from signing such sensitive agreements related to public health during the transitional period.
STO is the main state-owned company tasked with importing medicine. However, STO has denied claims that it is attempting to sign an agreement with a medicine supplier in India. The company stated that it is not in the process of signing such an agreement and that no party has made a request to postpone such an agreement.
The government has also denied claims made by the Office of the President-elect regarding issues in the health sector that may disrupt hospital services later this year. In an earlier press conference, Spokesperson Firuzul said that the transitional committees have found that many hospitals and health centres have not been managing their stock regularly, as they have not ordered the necessary items needed for the next six months. He said this would result in a halt in some services in November.
Additionally, Spokesperson Firuzul said that various items and equipment required by hospitals and health centres have not been ordered due to a lack of budget. He added that the repairs to the hospital's machinery and other expenses have been halted due to the lack of funds, as the budget only has enough to pay employee salaries for the remainder of the year.