Health ministry launches new strategic plan |23 April 2022

Minister Vidot and her team during the launch ceremony of the strategic plan (Photo: Thomas Meriton)

The National Health Strategic Plan for the period 2022-2026, the country’s blue print to improve the nation’s health and health system over the next five years was launched by Health Minister Peggy Vidot in a short ceremony at the Sheikh Khalifa Diagnostic Centre on Thursday.

This was in the presence of principal secretary for health, Dr Bernard Valentin; public health commissioner, Dr Jude Gedeon; chief executive of the Health Care Agency, Dr Danny Louange; chief executive of the National Aids Council, Dr Anne Gabriel; and other senior health managers.   

The strategic plan has been prepared and developed by Seychellois health workers following broad consultations with a wide range of other health workers and partners beyond the health ministry. It was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers some two weeks ago.

Minister Vidot hailed the plan as “a well-thought-out document to improve the people’s health and wellbeing, with everyone clearly having a major role to play in its implementation and its success.”

The National Health Strategic Plan (NHSP) 2022-2026 commits to the national vision for health ‒ the “attainment, by all people living in Seychelles, of the highest level of physical, social, mental and spiritual health and living in harmony with nature.”

The vision is supported by six strategic directions: to ensure the ministry’s governance and leadership has appropriate structures and processes necessary to successfully steer the health sector; to protect and improve universal health coverage throughout the life course and address priority diseases; to promote and protect health security; to advocate for a conducive environment that supports healthy living, safe and healthy neighbourhoods and improve wellbeing of people; to ensure effective, efficient and sustainable investment in health and the health system; and to build an integrated health information system(HIS), and strengthen efforts to collect , process, report and use of health data.

While the strategic plan gives the main directions, it does not provide as to how the six strategic directions will be implemented.

This will be done through operational plans that will be developed by the different health entities such as the Health Care Agency regarding service delivery, the Public Health Authority responsible to look at health emergencies and responses, the policy sector in the ministry concerning improving leadership and governance in health and other cross-cutting issues that all entities will be working together to address.

Minister Vidot stated that as the plan directs the development of health, it is therefore a plan that is expected to be implemented by all sectors in Seychelles be it ministries, civil society, communities and individuals as well.

“We all have a responsibility for our health and we will all be able to see something within the operation plan that we would want to do to make the kind of healthy choices that will help us live a healthy life,” said Minister Vidot who noted that they want to improve the quality of health of all so that people can live longer.

Minister Vidot noted that the 2016-2020 plan could not be executed in whole because of the Covid-19 pandemic and at the same time the new administration had new ideas with regards to health in the country.

She is again calling on everyone to take ownership of their health and to work together to ensure the success of the NHSP for a better health system for our families, our communities and our nation.

Dr Susan Fock-Tave and Dr Sanjeev Pugazhendhi gave an overview of the strategic plan.

Patrick Joubert