Health Protection Agency (HPA) has stated that a health screening programme for expatriates has begun in Hanimaadhoo, Haa Dhaalu Atoll.
HPA is conducting the health screening in collaboration with the Hanimaadhoo Health Centre, the island council, Mission for Migrant Workers Maldives and Society for Health Education. During the programme, 888 expatriates in Hanimaadhoo will undergo a general health check-up, receive MR vaccination, be tested for COVID-19 and receive a free doctor's appointment. They will also undergo diabetes and blood pressure tests.
HPA stated that the programme will also be conducted in other islands of Haa Dhaalu Atoll. Hanimaadhoo Health Centre stated that the health screening is a programme it regularly conducts in collaboration with the island council. However, the programme has been expanded after several expatriates on the island tested positive for filariasis.
Recently, cases of filariasis were reported in Haa Dhaalu Atoll. So far, 32 individuals have tested positive for the disease, all of them foreign workers. HPA stated that they were infected before they came to the Maldives. The health agency has since launched random health screenings in the north and in the Greater Male' Region.