Mauritius News

The International Health Regulations (IHR), the legally binding set of rules providing a framework to prevent the spread of public health events across borders, have a long and illustrious history that goes back over 170 years.

Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE), a comprehensive approach to providing person-centred care to older people in the context of an ageing population, attained a fresh milestone with the completion of a sensitization campaign and training of trainers (ToT) in Rodrigues in September 2024.

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), the evidence-based approach to protecting patients and healthcare workers from avoidable infections, is universally recognized as one of the cornerstones of a safe and effective health care delivery system. Thorough implementation of IPC practices not only reduces the risks of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), it also restricts the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which is emerging as a global health threat.

As is the case for many Small Island Developing States, Mauritius imports the large majority of the food its population consumes, whilst also relying economically on exporting certain local foodstuffs. Ensuring the safety of its food imports and marketability of its exports is thus of vital importance to the country. The Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security and WHO Mauritius recently convened a workshop for the harmonization the country’s food legislation with Codex standards, an endeavour that carries significant benefits, both in terms of public health and trade opportunities.

Port Louis – Sutrajeet Ghuburrun was 16 when he smoked his first cigarette. Over the next 40 years, the taxi driver from Bel Air, a village in the east of Mauritius, smoked between 15 and 20 cigarettes a day. Although he had long known about the harms of smoking, it was only in 2022, following a coronary angioplasty (a procedure to open narrowed arteries), that he finally quit. He is now more health conscious: the 56-year-old says he has adopted a daily walking regimen and tries to sensitize those around him against this highly destructive habit.

In line with the Mauritian Government’s Health Sector Strategic Plan 2020-2024 which recommends the setting up of Local Health Committees (LHCs) across the country, WHO recently supported the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) in the preparation and validation of a national policy for LHCs.

By providing affordable access to quality health services, Primary Health Care (PHC) forms the cornerstone for advancing towards universal health coverage (UHC) and ultimately for improving people’s health and well-being across the life-course.

Mauritius recently made a significant step forward in its ongoing struggle against noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Indeed, the presentation of the Mauritius Acceleration Plan to Stop Obesity 2024-2030 on April 25 by the Stakeholders’ Roundtable on Actions to Accelerate the Prevention and Management of Obesity represents a clear signal of the country’s intention to curb the scourge of the NCDs which account for 80% of the disease burden and 85% of mortalities.  

World Health Day 2024 was marked with purpose by member States, WHO Country Offices and their partners the world over, bringing to a close the WHO’s 75th anniversary year celebrations. This year’s activities were guided by the theme, My health, my right, and its message in favour of available, accessible and acceptable health care.

Dengue fever is having a moment. According to WHO data, cases worldwide increased significantly in 2023, following a small decline during the three previous years. A potent cocktail of ongoing transmissions and a surge in new cases saw the worldwide number of dengue cases exceed five million, a near record high. And although the lion’s share of the new cases has been reported in the Region of the Americas (almost 80%), the Aedes mosquito has transformed dengue into a truly global problem.