Mauritius News

Every year the World Cancer Day is marked globally on 4th of February to raise awareness and educate the population across the globe about cancer and unite efforts be it governments or individuals to take action against the disease to save millions of preventable deaths.  In Mauritius, the World Cancer Day was marked this year under the theme ‘I Am And I Will’ on 12 February 2019 at Roche Bois Social Welfare Centre.  On this occasion, Dr Hon. Anwar Husnoo, Minister of Health and Quality of Life launched a series of activities in view of sensitizing people on the prevention and control of cancer in the country.  Eminent personalities namely the Lord Major of the Municipal Council of Port Louis, Mr Daniel Eric Clive Laurent and Dr Laurent Musango, WHO Representative in Mauritius were present during the official launching of the activities. Dr Hon.  A.  Husnoo , in his speech, stated his appreciation that a large number of people was attending the launching of activities and he added that ‘this is an indication that people are aware of the magnitude of the problem and they show their interest  in participating in the  national prevention and control programme against cancer that is being carried out by the Ministry.’  Right at the start, the Health Minister expressed his concern on the rising number of new cancer cases in Mauritius.  According to the Cancer Registry, there were 2500 new cases of cancer in 2015 and the number of death due to cancer has also increased.  In fact, 13.3% of deaths in 2015 in Mauritius were due to cancer and in Rodrigues, the figure was 14.3%. 

A delegation from St Helena Island, a British Overseas territory in the Atlantic Ocean, is on a Study Tour in Mauritius from 07 to 19 January 2019 to learn from the country’s experiences in the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases.  On the first day, the delegation met Dr Laurent Musango, the WHO Representative in Mauritius to discuss the supporting role of WHO in facilitating the sharing of experiences between the two islands.  The members of the delegation then had a meeting with the technical team at the WHO local office to understand the NCD situation in the country and for an update on measures taken so far in view of reducing the NCD burden.  In the afternoon, the mission team had a meeting with the Minister of Health and Quality of Life, Dr. Hon. Anwar Husnoo and the high level officials.  The expected outcomes of the study tour and possibilities of cooperation between the two islands were discussed.

A workshop on implementation of exercise prescription in Mauritius was held on 03 December 2018 at Gold Crest Hotel, Quatre Bornes. Dr Anwar Husnoo, the Minister of Health and Quality of Life in his speech, reiterated the government strong commitment to fight the NCD scourge. The latter, he stated, is accentuated by the low levels of physical activity in the Mauritian population with only 23% of the adult population meeting the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations of 150 weekly minutes of physical activity and only 19% of the secondary school students engaged in regular physical activities. He welcomed the excellent joint collaborative initiative of his Ministry and the Ministry of Youth and Sports to address physical inactivity which is the 4th leading risk factor for death worldwide. He elaborated on the myriad health and social benefits of regular physical activity. Speaking about the measure to implement physical activity prescription in Mauritius, the Minister pointed out that this will represent a paradigm shift in the way patients receive treatment and will contribute a lot in reducing the public health care burden.

The World Mental Health Day was marked on 10 October 2018 at the Brown Sequard Mental Health Care Centre in Mauritius in the presence of Dr Hon Anwar Husnoo, Minister of Health and Quality of Life, Dr Myriam Timol, Acting Director General Public Health Services, Dr Laurent Musango, WHO Representative in Mauritius, Dr Nawoor, Regional Director of Jeetoo Hospital and Dr Ameenah Soreefan, Consultant in Charge (Psychiatry).  The quality of the cultural programme presented by the patients and staff of the Mental Health Care Centre as well as the exhibition cum sale of creative handmade crafts of the patients from the Occupational Therapy Department captured the attention and interest of all those present. Dr Hon. A. Husnoo, in his address, explained that ‘mental health is a state of wellbeing that we need to have in order to operate in our daily life, it enable us to do things, work and contribute to the society’.   He pointed out that there is no health in the absence of mental health.  The Health Minister added that people should be changed their attitudes towards people suffering from mental health problems.  He added that ‘very often, mental health problems are associated with changes in society, changes in work conditions, discrimination towards women, social exclusion, unhealthy lifestyle, violence, diseases, drug or alcohol  addiction and unemployment.’  

Dr Anwar Husnoo, the Minister of Health and Quality of Life, opened the validation workshop held on 02 October 2018 at Le Meridien Hotel, Mauritius to validate the findings of the National Assessment of the Health System for better non-communicable disease outcomes.  Eminent personalities, namely Her Excellency, Ms Marjanna Sall, the Ambassador of European Union, Mrs Christine  Umutoni, United Nation Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Dr Laurent Musango, the WHO Representative in Mauritius, Mr  Prakash Nowbuth, Senior Chief Executive, Dr Maryam Timol, the acting Director General Health Services, Mrs Mudaliar, Permanent Secretary of the Health Ministry and were present during the opening ceremony.  The national assessment of the health system, a joint initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO), European Union and the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life, which started in September 2017, has now reached the stage of completion.  The assessment results will be used in national processes for elaborating the Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP) and  the Integrated NCD Action Plan for Mauritius.

The National Health Accounts (NHA) Report 2017 was launched by the Health Minister, Dr Honourable Anwar Husnoo, on 24 September 2018 during a workshop in the presence of Dr Laurent Musango, WHO Representative in Mauritius, Dr Myriam Timol, Acting Director General Health Services, Permanent secretary, Mrs M.Mudaliar and Dr (Mrs) L. D. Luckheenarain from the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life,  and representatives of the private sector academia and civil society. The NHA 2017 has improved over the past rounds as it includes expenditures on classification of diseases developed for the first time in Mauritius. It tracks the levels and structure of healthcare spending vis-a-vis the general health status of the population occurred over a period of one year.  The Health Minister, Dr Hon. A. Husnoo, during his keynote address, said that ‘government acknowledges that health is a basic human right and that healthcare services should be provided according to need and not ability to pay.’ He added that ‘for the Government, health is not a commodity that can be traded at a price to alleviate the sufferings of people who are sick.’ 

A validation workshop is being conducted in Mauritius from 18 to 20 September 2018 in view of critically assess the levels of the country’s core capacities in detecting hazards from all sources and effectively respond to them without disruption of travel and trade.  The workshop, a preparatory step for the final visit by the external team of expert of the workshop, aims at validating the self-assessment report and identifying and compiling all reference documents that will be eventually required by the external team of expert during the final visit.

Social problems associated with the ageing of the population can be settled not only by formal services, like social aid, old age pension and health insurance but also through the provision of  a wide range of informal cares to support the population including self and family supports and mutual supports in community.  Such collaborations can be explored through global partnership and sharing of other countries’ experiences.  In this context, a half-day seminar was organized by the Embassy of Japan in Mauritius on Thursday 13th September 2018 at the Residence of the Japanese Ambassador.   Following a presentation by Dr Ken Masuda, Associate Professor at Nagasaki University, Japan, on the theme “Challenges of Social Welfare, Long-term Care and Insurance System in Hyper-Aged Japan”, the participants to the seminar, including Dr Laurent Musango, WHO Representative in Mauritius and Mrs Christine Umutoni, United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Representative to Mauritius, had the opportunity to participate in a live discussion.

Synchronizing the different plans in view of linking them with the Mauritius Vision 2030 on Health and Quality of Life, WHO Global Programme of Work (GPW13) and WHO Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) is a priority action to achieve national and global health outcomes, one of which is the reduction in the prevalence of Non-communicable Diseases and their risk factors. As a matter of fact, the prevalence of NCDs mainly diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and respiratory diseases has increased over the past four decades. NCDs account for 85% of disease burden and 81% of mortality in 2015 in the country.  In this context, the World Health Organization (WHO) is collaborating with the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life Mauritius to elaborate two keys policy documents, namely the Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP) 2019-2023 and the integrated strategy for prevention and control of NCDs disease 2019-2023.  As part of the initiative, the process for establishing “societal dialogue for health” and developing a roadmap was initiated to finalise the action plan for NCDs and Health Sector Strategy.   Dr. Ann-Lise Guisset and Ms. Kira Johanna Koch from WHO-Headquarters Geneva facilitated activities from 20th to 28th August in Mauritius.  Seeking the engagement of all stakeholders, namely patients, families and the community at large was crucial at this stage so that they are placed at the heart of the Health Sector Strategy. The participatory approach for diagnosing HSS challenges to addressing the NCD epidemic opened a window of opportunity to engage in more large scale population participation in developing the new Health Sector Strategy and the integrated NCD Action Plan.  It will ensure inclusiveness and participatory approaches for all stakeholders including Government, Population, Civil society, UN agencies, media, academia, NGOs, bilateral and multilateral agencies involved in health.

Blood transfusion is an essential part of modern health care. Used correctly, it can save lives and improve health. However, inappropriate and improper use of blood can lead to adverse reactions resulting in morbidity and even mortality. Safety of blood and blood products is of serious concern to countries, officials in charge of Blood Transfusion Services and prescribing clinicians. Apart from the well-known transfusion transmissible infections like HIV and hepatitis viruses, there are many emerging and re-emerging infections which are transmitted or could potentially be transmitted through blood transfusion.   In keeping with the WHO recommendations, Mauritius is required to have an approved National Blood Policy and a strategic framework that will ensure an adequate supply of safe and effective blood products and related medical services that are used appropriately for the benefit of all patients in Mauritius. In this context, Dr Jean Baptiste Tapko, WHO-consultant and expert on Blood and Blood products undertook a mission from 31st July to 10th August 2018 to review and finalize the National Blood Policy in Mauritius and support the country in developing a Strategic Framework for Action as well as finalize the Standards. The mission started with briefing meeting between. Dr Hon Anwar Husnoo, Minister of Health and Quality of life,  Dr. Laurent Musango, WHO Representative in Mauritius and key policy makers at the Health Ministry.   During the meeting the objectives of the mission were discussed and orientation from the Minister was provided to the team working on National Blood policy.