India delivers 30,000 doses of vaccines to Maldives after measles outbreak

New Delhi: India on Thursday supplied 30,000 doses of Measles and Rubella (MR) vaccine to the Government of Maldives in response to their emergency requirement. 

At least 30,000 doses of MR vaccine were quickly procured from the Serum Institute of India, Pvt. Ltd, and, within three days the vaccine reached Male'. The vaccines were handed over to the Ministry of Health, Government of Maldives on January 23, 2020.  

India donates 30,000 Measles Vaccine to Maldives, to support measles response plan pic.twitter.com/OeZLgZmDRM — Ministry of Health (@MoHmv) January 23, 2020

Thereafter, at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Health, HE Abdulla Ameen, Minister of Health presented a Certificate of Appreciation to H.E. Sunjay Sudhir, Ambassador of India to thank India for this gesture of goodwill and solidarity.

India's swift response underlines that health remains one of the strongest pillars of bilateral cooperation between India and Maldives. This gesture also emphasizes the mutually supportive roles of India’s Neighbourhood First Policy and the Maldives' India First policy, acting for the benefit of our peoples.  

Implementation of the MoU on Health cooperation signed during the State Visit of PM Modi in June 2019 has already commenced. Secretary-level delegations met in Male' on January 5-6, 2020 to draw up a roadmap for cooperation in capacity building and training of doctors and medical professionals, disease surveillance, training of mental health professionals, setting up of digital health capacities in the Maldives, etc.  

India is also building a 100-bed comprehensive, state-of-the-art Cancer Hospital in Hulhumale as a project under the bilateral USD 800 million Line of Credit. The hospital will be built by the Tata Memorial Centre and will be completed in an 18 months' time frame.