Statistics from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning show that more than one billion rufiyaa has been spent on the Aasandha scheme so far this year. This is a 9.9 percent increase compared to the same period last year. According to the “Weekly Fiscal Development” report published by the Ministry of Finance, from January 1 to July 17 of this year, 1.1 billion rufiyaa has been spent on Aasandha from the state budget. During the same period last year, 1.0 billion rufiyaa was spent on Aasandha schemes from the state budget. Therefore, this represents a 9.9 percent increase.
The budget allocated for Aasandha this year is 1.8 billion rufiyaa. As a result, approximately 760 million rufiyaa remains in the allocated Aasandha budget. With concerns over rising Aasandha expenses, the government continues to work on strengthening the country’s healthcare system and reducing the number of people needing to travel abroad for treatment. Additionally, to reduce waste under Aasandha, changes were implemented last October. These include prioritizing private insurance for medical treatment and modifying how others can receive medical care under Aasandha.
The state spends over 3 billion rufiyaa annually on medical care through Aasandha. While a large portion of this is spent on purchasing medicine, the government has now arranged for bulk procurement of medicines. Along with this, an important goal set by the government for the health sector is to reduce long-term spending on medical care through Aasandha and to use that money to strengthen the country’s healthcare system.
