President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has been recognised in TIME magazine’s TIME100 Health Most Influential People in Health 2026 list for his government’s efforts to prioritise public health in the Maldives.
According to TIME, the Maldives became the first country to implement a generational smoking ban under President Muizzu’s leadership. The move bars anyone born after January 2007 from purchasing or being sold any tobacco products. It further noted the introduction of other landmark policies including a 2024 ban on the import, sale, and use of vapes and e-cigarettes, as part of a plan to eliminate smoking and tobacco use in the country. President Muizzu’s government also established free tobacco cessation clinics on every island and launched a 24/7 mental-health helpline.
TIME further noted that the Maldives became the first country in the world to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B.