Had The Case Been Handled Better, Mishka’s Death Could Have Been Prevented – Health Ministry

On June 2, 2021, the Maldives reported the death of the youngest patient who passed away in Covid19. The events that led to her passing away raised nationwide concern and an official investigation was triggered into the death of 10-year-old Fathimath Mishka Mohamed. 
 
Yesterday, Ministry of Health released the final report of the investigation. To sum it up, the ministry accepted the fact that numerous flaws in the system and procedures caused unnecessary delays and errors at every stage in attending to the case in the most effective manner. The main issued identified include: 

• Unnecessary delays in deploying the necessary actions at HEOC 
• Carelessness in identifying the real medical problem of the case by the DMRT doctors in the online consultation 
• False reassurance of deployment of physical assistance given to parents 
• Details of all the information and calls not shared in the following stages by those who attended the calls at the call center.  

 
It was stated in the report that had responsible action been taken by the attendees in the case, Mishka’s death could have been prevented. The findings reveal that the degeneration was gradual and timely action was necessary. Based on the issues identified in this case, the ministry has begun the process of setting things in place again.  
 
Furthermore, the ministry has duly noted that the errors in the procedures and systems were always present but since the number of positive cases being managed were under somewhat of a control, the issues and similar situations had not arisen in the past. Contradicting this statement, there have been multiple public outrages and complains on social platforms detailing the mishandling of covid cases since the onset of the pandemic.  
 
Ministry of Health states that after the review, action will be taken against those who are responsible.