Preparations are underway for sending people through Aasandha to seek medical treatment in Thailand and UAE, the Aasandha company has said.
In line with President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s decision to send patients for treatment under Aasandha in Thailand and UAE, the company is working with the relevant agencies to make the necessary arrangements, Aasandha said in a press release last night.
Aasandha officials previously told a parliamentary committee that the company does not intend to send patients for treatment in other countries because there were no plans at the time and the decision to expand services had not been made and announced yet, Aasandha said in the statement.
“Now that the government has officially announced it, disseminating news based on statements made much earlier in a way that the public would see as the company being ‘opposed’ to it would be misleading and cause anxiety among the public,” the Aasandha statement read.
Responding to a question at a meeting of Parliament’s State-owned Enterprises Committee on December 17, Aasandha Managing Director Aminath Zeeniya said the company did not have such plans and that sending patients overseas would be a financial burden.
“The difference in cost is very big. Even now when we’re only sending to India and Sri Lanka, we’re talking about the cost of the scheme increasing, aren’t we. But there are very big cost differences with places such as Bangkok. There is a difference in cost even when you look only at the ticket,” Zeeniya said at the time.
President Muizzu announced efforts to send patients for treatment in UAE and Thailand while speaking to the press at the airport after concluding a visit to China.
"Instead of making Aasandha available by going to medical facilities in a particular country, we will expand Aasandha, God willing, to better quality countries, UAE and Thailand," President Muizzu said then.
