From Birth to Protection: Science and Trust in the Maldives: Voices from WHO Maldives

Dr Roshan Sampath: Public Health Officer (Epidemiology), WHO Maldives
Photo Credit: WHO/Maldives

As a public health professional with long experience in the field, I can say with confidence that the best outbreak is the one that never happens, and immunization surveillance is one of the main pillars that makes that possible.

When coverage data is collected consistently and acted upon quickly, we can identify communities where immunity gaps are forming, before a disease gets the chance to spread. We can target those gaps, reach the missed children, and strengthen the protective shield around communities.

What surveillance data tells us is not just numbers, it tells us where the vulnerability is, who is at risk, and when we need to act. That early warning is crucial.

The power of science lies not only in the vaccines themselves, but also in the systems that support them-data collection, analysis and timely response. When that system works effectively, communities are protected in ways they may never see or even realize.

To me, this is science at its most powerful: quiet, often invisible, but lifesaving when used in the right way. And that, to me, is science at its most powerful, quiet, invisible, but lifesaving, once used in the right direction."

In the Maldives, nearly 200 inhabited islands are scattered across the Indian Ocean. Each island has a health facility, and on every one of them, newborns receive the hepatitis B birth dose within hours of delivery.

Ms Sarah Jamal: National Professional Officer (Communicable Diseases and Environment), WHO Maldives
Photo Credit: WHO/Maldives

"As a National Professional Officer at the WHO Country Office, part of my work has been supporting the Maldives through the WHO global validation process for elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B. That meant working with the Ministry of Health and the Health Protection Agency to compile epidemiological evidence, ensure data quality met global verification standards, and contribute to the drafting of the national EMTCT report for review by the Global Validation Advisory Committee.

In October 2025, the Maldives became the first country in the world to achieve triple EMTCT validation. Over 95% of pregnant women receive antenatal care with near-universal screening for all three infections, and over 95% of newborns consistently receive the timely hepatitis B birth dose and three-dose series coverage.

What this achievement really represents isn't a single dramatic intervention. It's science, early intervention, and community trust working together across a geographically complex country. Preventing mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B requires a timely birth dose within 24 hours of delivery, followed by completion of the full three-dose infant vaccine series. In a country where supply chains cross open ocean to reach every island, sustaining that coverage demands real commitment, and real community trust.

That trust is built because health workers, families, and communities believe in the system, and because the system itself was designed to reach them equitably.

Supporting this process reinforced something I carry into the rest of my work - the strongest health outcomes come from integrated systems where immunization, antenatal care, and surveillance reinforce one another, built on the trust of the communities they are designed to protect."