In November 2020, Maldives Research organised a health forum to explore stakeholders’ perspectives on the healthcare services in the northern atolls in the Maldives. Together with key healthcare workers, the respective council representatives of Haa Alif, Haa Dhaal, Shaviyani, Noonu, Raa, Baa and Lhaviyani, policymakers and private sector healthcare service providers, the forum undertook rich and engaging discussions in a range of areas from trust in the healthcare system to limitations in the existing legislations in the sector affecting prompt and efficient service delivery for the atolls. Our key objective was to engage with the stakeholders to determine their perspectives in relation to five key themes (trust, human resources, legislation, affordability, and equity of healthcare access) using the following five research questions:
The above themes, research questions and follow up questions were discussed online amongst stakeholders in groups. After analysis of the qualitative data, 37 recommendations for policy and practice were identified and nine priority recommendations were identified from the analysis of the data from the five themes.
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