Seychelles News

Seychelles joined the rest of the world in commemorating World Health Day under the theme “Beat Diabetes” in a series of activities throughout the week. The activities were organised by the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the World Health Organisation and other key partners including various other ministries and agencies.

Victoria, Seychelles, 17 April 2016 - will remain an important date in the history of immunisation in Seychelles. This is because April 17th was Seychelles national ‘Switch’ date, where the country ceased the use of all trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV) and started using bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV). Following Rwanda, Seychelles became the second country in Africa to ‘switch’.

Victoria, Seychelles, 29th April 2016 - Equitable and sustainable health financing is a key component of any health system and disease-specific preventive programmes. In the Seychelles, primary health care is free at the point of use for all citizens. To efficiently deliver this service, health care is financed almost entirely through general taxation and social security contributions. The Ministry of Health (MoH) receives one of highest budgetary allocations every year. In 2014 for example MoH received Rs535,400,00.

Victoria, Seychelles, 29th April 2016 - Following its commitment to implement the Global Polio Eradication Strategy, on the 1st of September 2015 Seychelles  joined the global effort to introduce the Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) into its routine immunization schedule. The vaccine is being administered to all children at the age of four months along with their second dose of DPT-HepB-Hib and oral polio vaccine (OPV2).

Rotavirus causes severe diarrhea and is often fatal in children before the age of five years.  It is a public health concern in developing countries, and the Seychelles is not an exception. The first infection is usually most severe with subsequent infections being milder. An effective vaccine administered to  infants could therefore save many lives.  However before introducing the vaccine, the knowledge of disease burden and of circulating genotypes is essential and can only be done through a network of effective supervision.

Measles is a highly infectious viral disease caused by a Morbillivirus. It only affects humans and rapidly spreads among individuals who have not been vaccinated. It is also the leading cause of vaccine-preventable deaths among children worldwide.

Seychelles has joined many other countries in the world in strengthening its efforts to prevent cervical cancer and other Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)-related diseases amongst its population. This is being done in an effort to reduce girls’ risk of developing HPV related cancers by as much as 80%. Since May 2014, the Ministry of Health has introduced the HPV vaccine into its routine immunization schedule.

Victoria, Seychelles 19 May 2016 - The Seychelles islands have welcomed Mr Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General on a two day historical visit in the country from the 7th to the 8th of May 2016. Mr. Ban Ki-moon’s visit to the small island state follows the invitation of the President of the Republic of Seychelles Mr James Michel, who was at the Seychelles International Airport to meet the UN Secretary on his arrival Saturday. Mr Ban is the first sitting UN secretary general to visit Seychelles since the country joined the Organisation in September 1976.

Seychelles has placed the improvement in the quality of services its population receives as one of the key policy thrusts that will consolidate the achievements of Universal Health Coverage that it has so far attained. To this end, an increased focus on person centred care is one of the strategic thrusts the country is pursuing to facilitate achievement of this goal. Person centred care calls for a complete rethink of the way health and related services are designed, provided and monitored.

“It is indeed a pleasure, to be a part of this very important Symposium, on person-centred care. This is a concept that is well-integrated into WHOs thinking and approach to attainment of the global health goals.

As we are all aware, the global health agenda has coalesced around the need to assure sustained Universal Health Coverage with services that are important to them. This agenda is built around the need to ensure our people have the right to health, and are healthy enough to contribute to their personal, community and national development.