The State Trading Organization (STO) has signed a new agreement with HLL Lifecare Limited, a pharmaceutical company under India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to improve access to essential medicines in the Maldives.

The agreement, signed under India’s Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP), aims to provide a direct and lasting solution to recent shortages of critical medications that have strained the country’s healthcare system.

STO stated that the partnership will ensure uninterrupted supply of affordable and hard-to-procure medicines, all of which will meet World Health Organization (WHO) standards and national import regulations.

The collaboration builds on an existing relationship between the two parties. During the COVID-19 pandemic, HLL Lifecare played a key role in supplying urgently needed medicines to the Maldives.