The 19th annual Indian Ocean Colloquium on Hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, and Addictology will be held in Seychelles from November 13–15, 2023, according to the Cabinet of Ministers of the island nation.
On Thursday, Vice President Ahmed Afif made the statement in a press briefing on the Cabinet decisions. "Seychelles is a member of this group, and one of the nations hosts this symposium each year. We committed to hosting it in 2023 back in 2019.
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There will be about 200 delegates there, and we will get the chance to learn from experts. The groups comprise Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar, Reunion, and Comoros.
Afif claimed that the Cabinet was also briefed on the country's health and medical services through expert presentations. He established that the situation poses a threat since, in many cases, things have become worse and that the primary root causes are drug and alcohol abuse, smoking, poor eating habits, and bad behavior.
"They looked at the main symptoms our folks are experiencing, and the situation is pretty alarming. Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and lung conditions are among many of them.
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These illnesses are primarily non-communicable, inherited or linked to a person's lifestyle. They contrasted our way of living between 1989 and 2013," Afif mentioned.
He stated the places where there had been an increase in the number of former smokers. For example, it made up 30% of the population of Seychelles in 1989, but now only 17%. In addition, people with high blood pressure have decreased from 38% to 30%, while those with high cholesterol have fallen from 45% to 36%.
The proportion of overweight or obese people has gotten worse. It was 40% in 1989, and it is currently 64%. Additionally, 30 percent of boys and 35 percent of girls in the same age range as Secondary 4 (ages 15 to 16) are overweight. In the past, just 6% of people had diabetes; now, it affects 11%.
Since healthcare in Seychelles is free, changes in sickness variables immediately affect the government's budget. It is troubling since these causes will impose a cost on services the Ministry of Health provides tomorrow.
According to the paper, one of the ailments caused by these variables is kidney disease, which requires dialysis. We currently spend roughly SCR 80 million [$6.25 million] on 200 individuals.
Other diseases have high costs, such as foreign treatment for around 200 cancer patients, which costs SCR 50 million [$3.9 million] per year. This totals SCR 130 million [$10.2 million], or 10% of the $400 patients' budget for the health ministry, Mr. Afif continued.
"He stated that this is concerning for the Cabinet since doubling the number of patients would imply that fewer than 1% of Seychelles' population is spending 20% of the health expenditure.
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He gave other treatment expenditures per patient per month. Many people talk about the cost of methadone treatment, but other illnesses cost us more. The medical cost of methadone is SCR150 [$12] each month for one patient.
A person on anti-retroviral treatment for HIV is SCR 1,600 [$125] per month, tuberculosis is SCR 350 [$27] per month, hepatitis SCR 4,000 [$312] per month, dialysis SCR 33,000 [$2600] per month, for overseas treatment on average is 21,000 [$1600] per month," said Afif.
He explained that this is why the Ministry of Health requires a budget of SCR1.3 billion [$78 million] per year, even though many of its constraints are external to the Ministry.
"At all costs, we must seek ways to control those illnesses that we can because some, such as cancer, are often hereditary and beyond our control." For example, we can control how we eat, and we can urge our people to exercise more and consume fewer cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs," he further stated.
Afif stressed that "our health is our responsibility." "In the short term, the government must take note of the current situation, and we must accept and correct the flaws," he pointed out. The experts also gave recommendations for improving the situation in the occurred presentation.
