The Maldives is not a dangerous destination, with few poisonous animals and – by regional standards – excellent health care and hygiene awareness. Staying healthy here is mainly about being sensible and careful.

Availability & Cost of Health Care – Most resorts have a resident doctor, or share one with another nearby resort. However, if you are seriously unwell it will be necessary to go to Male, or to the nearest atoll capital with a hospital if you’re in a far-flung resort. The Maldivian health service relies heavily on doctors, nurses and dentists from overseas, and facilities outside the capital are very limited. The country’s main hospital is the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Male’. Male also has the ADK Private Hospital, which offers high-quality care at high prices, but as it is important to travel with medical insurance to the Maldives, the cost shouldn’t be too much of a worry. The capital island of each atoll has a government hospital or at least a health centre – these are being improved, but for any serious problem you will have to go to Male.

Dengue Fever – Mosquitoes vary from non-existent to very troublesome depending on which island you’re on and what time of year it is. In general, mosquitoes are not a huge problem because there are few areas of open fresh water where they can breed. However, they can be a problem at certain times of the year (usually after heavy rainfall), so if they do tend to annoy you, use repellent or burn mosquito coils, available from resort shops at vast expense (bring your own just in case). Dengue fever, a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes, occurs in Maldivian villages but is not a significant risk on resort islands or in the capital.

Environmental Hazards
Most of the potential danger (you have to be extremely unlucky or very foolhardy to actually get hurt) lies under the sea.

Some Animals in the water that may concern travellers are:

• Anemones
• Coral Cuts & Stings
• Sea Urchins
• Stingrays
• Stonefish

And some general conditions that may concern travellers are :

• Heat Exhaustion
• Heatstroke

Diving Health & Safety

Diving Safely – The following laws apply to recreational diving in the Maldives, and dive masters should enforce them:

• Maximum depth is 30m – this is the law in the Maldives.
• Maximum time is 60 minutes.
• No decompression dives.
• Each diver must carry a dive computer.
• Obligatory three-minute safeties stop at 5m.
• Last dive no later than 24 hours before a flight, including seaplanes

Decompression Sickness
This is a very serious condition – usually, though not always – associated with diver error. The most common symptoms are unusual fatigue or weakness; skin itch; pain in the arms, legs (joints or mid-limb) or torso; dizziness and vertigo; local numbness, tingling or paralysis; and shortness of breath. Signs may also include a blotchy skin rash, a tendency to favour an arm or a leg, staggering, coughing spasms, collapse or unconsciousness. These symptoms and signs can occur individually, or a number of them can appear at one time.

The only treatment for decompression sickness is to put the patient into a recompression chamber. That puts a person back under pressure similar to that of the depth at which they were diving so nitrogen bubbles can be reabsorbed. The time required in the chamber is usually three to eight hours. There are decompression chambers at both Baros and Kuramathi resorts.

Toilets
Male public toilets charge Rf 2. In general you will be better off using the toilets in cafes and restaurants in Male’ and the islands – they’re usually cleaner and free.