Eva-Maria Knoll

Considering the Island Capital Male’ as a Hub for Health-Related Mobilities

Taking a look at the Indian Ocean world through a medical lens, this article discusses present-day health-related mobilities and the role that Male’, the capital of the Republic of Maldives, plays in them. Through the example of the care-intensive inherited blood disorder thalassemia, it is demonstrated that the Maldivian archipelagic setting, with a population scattered across hundreds of islands, is a challenging terrain for providing and seeking health services. Health-related mobility becomes recognizable as a creative response, structure, and driving force. The capital island Male’ thereby is the gravity center for health mobilities within and beyond the archipelago. The capital serves as an inevitable medical hub. It is frequented as the top level of the country’s healthcare referral system, as the stepping stone in the pathway to cross-oceanic medical destinations and as the point of departure of outreach services. As a stage for various circulations, translations, and transformations, the small island hub Male’, in turn, has been transformed by these processes from a small coral island with a fringing reef to a congested multi-island urban agglomeration.