Gov’t Allocates 10,000-Square-Foot Hulhumalé Site for Mental Health Hospital
Minister of Health, Family and Welfare Geela speaking to parliament today.
The government has allocated a 10,000-square-foot plot of land in Hulhumalé for the construction of a dedicated mental health hospital, Minister of Health, Family and Welfare Geela Ali has confirmed.
The decision to locate the facility in the Greater Malé Area was made due to the high number of patients seeking treatment in the region, the minister told Parliament while responding to questions from Galolhu Uthuru MP, Mohamed Ibrahim (Kudu).
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She said statistics show that out of more than 70,000 mental health consultations carried out over the past three years, around 45,000 were conducted in the Malé region.
Geela Ali said no specific study had been conducted on establishing the hospital outside the capital region, adding that planning decisions must take into account patient volumes and available resources.
She said the government has now finalised the decision to proceed with the project in Hulhumalé, where mental health services are expected to be centralised.
Currently, most mental health support services are concentrated in the Greater Malé Area, with limited facilities available in other parts of the country. This centralisation may be a contributing factor to the majority of mental health consultations being conducted in the Malé region.
President Dr Mohamed Muizzu announced in April that the hospital would be funded using state resources after delays in securing a foreign loan, with the initial proposal having considered Laamu Atoll as the site.
He said the government had since decided to shift the project to the Greater Malé Area due to implementation delays and rising demand for mental health services.
