Mauritius News

During the Prizing Giving Ceremony of the National Info-Clip Competition held on 03 September 2020 at the R. Gandhi Science Centre, Bell Village, young people from different regions of the country were sensitized on the increased risk of mortality for COVID-19 due to smoking. Hon. Mr Stephan Toussaint, Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Recreation, Dr Laurent Musango, WHO Representative in Mauritius, Honorary President of VISA, Mrs Veronique Leclezio and Mr Deowan Mohee, President of VISA as well as high officials of the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Recreation attended the event. The National Info-Clip Competition, launched in June 2020 in the context of the World No-Tobacco Day, aimed at encouraging young people to come up with preventive strategies to reduce the use of tobacco and nicotine among youth. Hon Mr S. Toussaint, during his address, expressed his appreciation to WHO for the support provided during the COVID-19 outbreak. He highlighted the need to stay alert even if in the country there is no locally transmitted cases. “COVID-19 is present around the world”, said the Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Recreation. He added, “smoking affects your lungs and causes respiratory diseases”. The Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Recreation emphasized, “smokers have high risks of complications due to COVID-19”. He encouraged young people to practice sports and benefit from the sports and recreational programmes offered by his ministry.

Hon. Prime Minister of the Republic of Mauritius, Pravind Kumar Jugnauth launched the National Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP) 2020-2024 on 12 August 2020 at the Hennessy Park Hotel, Ebene, Mauritius in the presence of eminent personalities including Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. S. Obeegadoo, Dr Hon. Kailash Kumar Jagutpal, Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Hon A. Husnoo, Minister of Local Government and Disaster Risk Management, Hon. N. Bodha, Minister of Foreign Affairs and other Private Parliament Secretary members. Dr Laurent Musango, WHO Representative in Mauritius, Mrs Christine Umutoni, UN Resident Coordinator and representative of European Union also attended the launching ceremony. During his key note address, Hon. P. K. Jugnauth, Prime Minister of the Republic of Mauritius acknowledged the ‘able guidance of WHO’ in developing this first five year national health sector strategic plan which will enable the Government of Mauritius “to turn into reality its vision of a healthy nation”.

Mauritius marked World Breastfeeding Week 2020 by an official ceremony performed by Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Hon. Kailash Jagutpal on 06 August 2020 at the Victoria Hospital, Candos. In line with this year’s theme, the country aims at creating awareness among young people on the importance of breast feeding and its positive contribution to a healthier planet. During the opening of the official ceremony, Dr Hon. Kailash Jagutpal, Minister of Health and Wellness, emphasized breastfeeding as key to all of the United Nations SDGs.  “Breastfeeding is directly linked to goal 3 on greater health and wellbeing and can also be aligned with Goal 4 on Education”, stated Dr Hon K. Jagutpal.  He added that mothers should be sensitized on the entire benefits of breastfeeding, including improving the cognitive ability of the child which is conducive to better learning outcomes.  “Breastfed babies are healthier and they are less likely to need excessive medical attention as they grow", said the Health Minister.  “The optimum use of energy and less waste to our landfills has a direct bearing on our commitment to curb down global pollution trends. This is reminiscent of Goal 12 of the SDG as it contributes to the health of our planet”, highlighted the Health Minister. WHO Representative in Mauritius, Dr Laurent Musango during his address, advocated for the setting up of a "National Breastfeeding Promotion and Protection Committee" as recommended in the National Roadmap/Framework to improve Maternal Newborn Child Health published in November 2019.  

Dr Laurent Musango, WHO Representative was invited to make a presentation on COVID-19 at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute in Moka on 15 July 2020 on the occasion of the 5th Nelson Mandela Memorial Lecture 2020. During his presentation, Dr L. Musango elaborated on the situation on COVID-19 at the global, African and local levels to 50 participants, social distancing requirement obliged and some 650 online participants. ‘Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to accelerate with 230,000 cases reported to WHO in a single day’, said Dr L. Musango, who added, ‘all countries are at risk.  However, not all countries have been affected in the same way.’    WHO Representative in Mauritius pointed out that South Africa is too much affected with COVID-19 as compared to rest of the countries in the African Region.  He also indicated that WHO is following on a number of indicators to evaluate the performance of countries in fighting COVID-19.  These indicators include Case Fatality Rate (CFR), Proportion of Mortality of Health Workers and Capacity Testing, among others.

The President of the Republic of Mauritius, Honourable Prithvirajsing Roopun invited Dr Laurent Musango, WHO Representative in Mauritius at the State House, Reduit on 03 June 2020 to discuss the current situation and future perspective regarding prevention and control of COVID-19.  It was also an opportunity for the President to debate with WHO Representative on the overall health system in Mauritius, and what needs to be strengthened. Dr Laurent Musango congratulated Mauritius on behalf of the three levels of the World Health Organization, namely local, regional and headquarters, for its commitment and determination in fighting the dreadful COVID-19. The latter explained the active presence of WHO in the high-level committees and National Task Force on COVID-19 chaired by the Prime Minister, Honorable Pravind Kumar Jugnauth.  The role of WHO in providing the necessary advice and guidance to the committee was stress by Dr Musango. “ The containment of the disease in the country and the decreasing COVID-19 cases were due mainly to the commitment of the high authorities in Mauritius”, underlined Dr Musango, who added that the country is among very few countries in the world which have been able to stop the spread of the infection two months after the first three COVID-19 confirmed cases were registered.  This achievement would not have been possible without the coordination and commitment of the Prime Minister himself and the engagement of the whole population said Dr Musango.

New cancer cases are on the decrease in Mauritius.  According to the National Cancer Registry Report 2018, released on the occasion of the World Cancer Day 2020, new cancer cases have decreased by 3.3% in 2018 as compared to 2017. The three most common types of cancer among females are breast cancer, colorectal and ovaries cancers while prostate, colorectal and lung cancers are more prevalent among males in Mauritius.  There were 2380 new cancer cases, that is, 959 among males and 1421 among females in 2018 in Mauritius, which represents a general decrease of 2.8 % of new cancer cases. The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Hon. Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal,  during the official launching of activities to mark World Cancer Day 2020 at L’Escalier Mediclinic, made an appeal to the population to go for free screening services available across the country.  Dr Hon. K. K. S. Jagutpal pointed out the fact that “early detection of cancer greatly increases the chances for successful treatment and reduces the risks of premature death”.   

Nutritionists, Public Health Nursing Officers, Nursing Officers, Chief and Principal Midwives and Health Care Assistants in the Republic of Mauritius have been empowered during a Training of Facilitators on child growth assessment and WHO Child Growth Standard from 10-13 February 2020 at Gold Crest, Quatre Bornes. The main objective of the training was to empower health workers on growth assessment using additional indicators, data analysis and reporting of anthropometric data in the context of strengthening the National Nutrition Surveillance System in Mauritius and Rodrigues.  This important capacity building workshop was conducted by the Ministry of Health and Wellness in collaboration with the World Health Organization in response to the need to have a holistic information system that can continuously collect, analyze and interpret data related to nutrition.  Dr Hana Bekele, Nutrition Advisor from the WHO Regional Office for Africa/Intercountry Support Team for East and Southern Africa (IST/ESA), facilitated the training.

Dr Bhoshan Ori, Director Health Services of the Ministry of Health and Wellness launched the National Roadmap Framework to Improve Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, developed in collaboration with WHO, at the Gold Crest Hotel in Quatre Bornes on 03 February 2020. The Roadmap aims at promoting a woman-centred as well as an evidence-based approach.  Prior to the development of the Roadmap, the Ministry of Health and Wellness conducted an intensive consultation with stakeholders to facilitate implementation.

A Policy workshop was held on 19 December 2019 by the Ministry of Health and Wellness in close collaboration with WHO with the aim of building consensus on the National Laboratory Policy.    The participation of a wide range of stakeholders including development partners, professional users and technical experts such as laboratory scientists, engineers, clinicians, pathologists, public health experts, health economists and financers was crucial in view of developing  an efficient, cost-effective and sustainable quality health laboratory service. There is need for a National  Laboratory Policy  to ensure safety and reliability of health laboratories.  The policy will also provide a framework for coordinated delivery of quality and accessible laboratory services country-wide.  Mauritius is committed to develop and implement its National laboratory policy to ensure quality health to the population.