Malé, Maldives – Health Minister Ahmed Naseem is to be summoned to the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Gender over the death of 10 year old girl, who passed away due to Covid-19 following multiple instances of negligence from the relevant authorities.
The Minister was previously summoned to the committee as well, in which he was given a week to completely the investigation of the case and take action. The meeting with the minister has now been scheduled for this coming Sunday.
On June 1, Tuesday, a ten year old girl was declared dead at IGMH ER, after emergency services took 2 hours and 26 minutes for an ambulance to reach the patient. 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 21:06, 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, the girl’s family has said that there was a lot of misinformation in the report. For instance, the report stated that the ambulance arrived at 22:38 and the patient was transported to IGMH ER by 23:42. 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 23:42. The family member said that the call was to inquire about the ambulance, and questioned how the 10 year old was brought to IGMH by 23:42.
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.
