Male’, Maldives – The Parliament’s Human Rights and Gender Committee on Monday made the decision to grant one week to finish taking action against those found to be negligent in the death of 10-year-old COVID-19 victim Mariyam Mishka Mohamed.
Speaking at the Committee meeting, Minister of Health Ahmed Naseem stated that they have already taken action in order to prevent a repetition of such a tragedy. However, the Minister did not give any details into the nature of said action.
Minister noted that “until such an incident occurs not much attention is given to these details. We are not even alerted. So I request you to give me a duration of one week. I will finish all the work by then.”
Upon his request, Committee Chair MP Jeehan Mahmood decided to grant one week to the minister to return with detailed information. She added that hence, the next Committee meeting will be held after a week.
Additionally, Minister Naseem revealed that he spoke to Mishka’s family over the phone and that her father requested to make arrangements so that such an incident does not repeat.
On June 1, Tuesday, Mishka was declared dead at IGMH ER, following multiple failed resuscitation attempts.
After her family claimed that authorities were negligent in attending to their daughter’s case, a review was launched.
Ministry of Health on June 4, publicized the findings in the report, which clearly show multiple instances of gross negligence. The timeline and details of the incident revealed that although her family called multiple times to inform of their daughters deteriorating condition, including complaints of respiratory distress, they were not provided with enough assistance and the situation was not treated as an emergency.
While parents were assured an ambulance was on the way, records reveal that it was never activated. Finally, due to delays, the family sent someone on their behalf to Dharubaaruge, the headquarters of HEOC, who informed them of the situation. The HEOC’s Facility Management Cluster then requested EMS to activate an ambulance and informed the family that one was on the way.
From the first call that night at 2106hrs, it took two hours and 26 minutes for the ambulance to reach, by then she was unresponsive.
Since the ministry came out with the report, Mishka’s family has said that there was a lot of misinformation in the report. gen
For instance, the report stated that the ambulance arrived at 2238hrs and the patient was transported to IGMH ER by 2342 hrs. The family brand this false and shared screenshots from that night which show the call history between them and Heath Protection Agency’s (HPA) helpline 1676 as proof.
As per the call logs, there was an ongoing call of six minutes and 39 seconds at 2342 hrs. The family member said that the call was to inquire about the ambulance, and questioned how Mishka was brought to IGMH by 2342.
Furthermore, the report stated that CPR was immediately started after the ambulance arrived. But the family deny this as well and said that although she did not have a pulse, CPR was not done in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
Moreover, her family released a statement urging not to spread false narratives on media as well as social media. They urged not to do anything that adds to the already endless suffering the family was experiencing.
Speaking to the press soon after Mishka’s tragic death, Heath Minister assured that action will be taken following the publicizing of the reports findings. However, no action has been taken as of now.
