Aasandha says against bi-annual medical checkup cover
According to Zeeniya, the head of Aasandha, discussions have already started with NSPA to formulate rules for medical checkups.
By
Ahmed Naif
While the government has decided to provide medical checkups twice a year through Aasandha, the company that manages the national health insurance scheme said on Tuesday that it does not believe it is a good practice.
Last week, the cabinet decided to make medical check-ups available to all citizens twice a year for early detection of major non-communicable diseases.
At a meeting of the parliamentary SOE committee on Tuesday, the committee's vice-chairman Mohammed Hussain Didi questioned the government's decision to make it "compulsory" for all Maldivians to undergo medical check-ups twice a year through Aasandha. The member asked:
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Is it practiced anywhere in the world to have medical checkups twice a year?
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Medical checkups can be done by insurance schemes once a year; So do we have to have a scheme checkup twice a year?
In response to the question, the new Managing Director of Aasandha, Aiminath Zeeniya, said that she does not believe in having medical checkups twice a year.
"I also don't believe that we have to have a medical checkup twice a year. Most of the time, there are things like x-rays, which patients should not be exposed to too much," she said.
Zeeniya, who was appointed as the head of the company by this government while she was the oldest employee of the company, said:
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She had previously tried to introduce medical checkups to Aasandha
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Studies conducted at that time also suggested that checkups should be covered by Aasandha by testing done once in a year or once in two years.
According to Zeeniya, discussions have already started with NSPA to formulate rules for medical checkups.
"I don't know what will come out in the final. We have shared these recommendations with NSPA," she said.
Zeeniya added that through the discussions for a full medical checkup twice a year, they are now discussing how to instead do basic tests like blood and urine first to check for any health problems, and then follow up with a full study under a doctor’s advice if there is anything notable for further investigations.
The government has now decided to make IVF treatment for infertility and other similar treatments for common diseases such as PCOS free of charge, under Aasandha.
When asked about the burden on the budget if the treatments were undertaken by Aasandha, Zeeniya said it would not burden the budget as far as she knew. However, she noted that the existing rules need to be changed to start the treatments.
"We are working to change the existing rules. It is written that fertility treatments will not be covered at all," she said.
She added that even now, after providing treatments for diseases such as PCOS, hospitals still bill Aasandha for the treatment. Therefore, treatments for the disease must be approved by the system, she said.
“Now we have to change the way we reject it,” she said.
