All prisons under Maldives Correctional Service have a medical centre, though the main medical centre is housed at Male’ Prison. All prisoners are provided with health and medical benefits such as initial health screening, general OPD and specialists through the nearest hospital when required.
All Maldivians are medically insured under the government insurance scheme “Aasandha”, though foreigners serving sentences or in remand are also provided free medical care by Maldives Correctional Service.
Most issues are dealt with by the medical team; if they are unable to provide the necessary care or if the prisoner or remanded person wishes to seek medical assistance from specialist doctors, the prison makes the necessary arrangements for treatment outside of the medical centre or prison. There are female nurses available to assist female prisoners or remanded person.
All new prisoners or remanded persons get screened to see their health status or if they have any issues such as following:
- Current and past illnesses
- health conditions or special health requirements (e.g., dietary needs)
- Current and past psychological issues
- Infectious diseases such as HIV, TB, hepatitis B / C etc
- Urine analysis, random blood sugar test
- Have drug problems