Malé, Maldives – The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) says that no investigative reports including the review report has not been shared with the commission by Health Ministry.
While the Health Ministry released a preliminary report on June 4, the Health Minister Ahmed Naseem said that the complete report will be released at a later date since the released report was not comprehensive. The complete investigative report said to be complete last week, has not been released to the public. The Health Ministry was given a week, on June 7, to take action on all responsible parties after the death of 10 year old Mariyam Mishka Mohamed by the Parliament’s Human Rights and Gender Committee.
On June 1, Tuesday, ten year old Mishka 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.
Speaking to Raajje TV last night, the HRCM Commissioner Moomina Waheed said that an official request has been made to acquire the case review report and Minister Naseem has previously assured that said report will be shared with HRCM. However, the report has not been shared with HRCM to date.
On June 13, IGMH submitted an investigative report to HRCM with elements missing. Requests were lodged to aquire this information with no progress.
HRCM has also requested the Maldives Police to investigate the case on June 14, upon learning that the police is not investigating the negligent death of the 10 year old girl.
The HRCM commissioner stressed the urgency of Mishka’s case where human rights may have been neglected and urged the authorities including IGMH to submit required paperwork at the earliest so that the commission can continue its work.
The timeline and details of the incident from the preliminary report 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.
The report also 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.
Mishka’s 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.
