Find Health and Medical expertise in Mauritius
Medical care standards in Mauritius are high and there are several private clinics in addition to the public health system. The main hospitals in Mauritius are the A. G. Jeetoo Hospital in Port Louis, Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam National Hospital in Pamplemousses, Victoria Hospital in Quartre Bornes and Candos in the district of Plaine-Wilhems. There are also various private clinics that provide medical services. In a joint venture with British American Investment Co, the Apollo Hospitals Group – Asia’s largest health care group – set up the Apollo Bramwell Hospital, a multi-speciality hospital, in Moka in 2009. The Mauritius Institute of Health organises the training of health personnel and carries out health systems research. There are currently two local companies that manufacture pharmaceutical products in Mauritius. The Pharmacy Board, under the regulation of the Pharmacy Act 1983, is responsible for regulating pharmaceutical practices.
The government has committed to keeping health care services free of any user cost at the point of delivery. The pursuit of primary health care policy in Mauritius strives to achieve equitable distribution of health resources and support services to the community. This package is delivered through a network of institutions providing preventive, curative and rehabilitative care. Mauritius has an established welfare system with the state as both financer and provider of clinical and non-clinical treatment in the public health sector.
The Post-2015 UN Development Agenda – The Future We Want national report on Mauritius – highlights several issues that need to be addressed in the country’s post-2015 development strategy. These are: the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases; further reduction of child and maternal mortality; reinforcement of the fight against HIV/AIDS; and greater attention to mental health issues. The report also suggests that those issues highlighted under the MDGs should be combined and approached as an overarching aim of ‘universal health coverage’, in a bid to reduce health inequities.
Communicable and non-communicable diseases
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) accounted for an estimated 86% of all mortality in Mauritius in 2012. The most prevalent NCDs in Mauritius are cardiovascular diseases, which accounted for 31% of total deaths across all age groups in 2012. Diabetes, cancer and non-communicable variants of respiratory diseases contributed 26%, 12% and 5% to total mortality, respectively (2012). Communicable diseases along with maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions in Mauritius accounted for an estimated 8% of all mortality in 2012. The prevalence of HIV in Mauritius, as a percentage of people aged 15–49 years, stood at 0.9% in 2014 – this has remained largely consistent since 2002. Mauritius is a non-endemic country for malaria. The estimated incidence of tuberculosis (TB) has seen a slight decrease in the period 1990–2013, while mortality (when mortality data excludes cases comorbid with HIV) from the disease has shown little change in the period 2007–13.
The most commonly diagnosed mental illnesses in Mauritius are psychosis and alcohol-related conditions, followed by substance abuse-related complaints and depression.
Government expenditure
In 2013 government expenditure on health was 2.4% of GDP. In the most recent survey, conducted between 1997 and 2010, there were 11 doctors, and 373 nurses and midwives per 100,000 people. Additionally, in 2010, 100% of births were attended by qualified health staff and in 2013, 99% of one-year-olds were immunised with a dose of measles. In 2014 everyone was using an improved drinking water source and 93% of people had access to adequate sanitation facilities. The most recent survey, conducted in the period 2000–11, reports that Mauritius has 116 pharmaceutical personnel per 100,000 people.
Less than half of health care in Mauritius (49%) was government funded in 2012. The remaining 51% was paid for by patients or funded by other non-governmental entities, such as private insurers, charities or employers. Total health expenditure constituted 4.8% of GDP in 2012.
Mauritius was not an original signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, but acceded to it in 1973 and has written the covenant into law. It includes ‘the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health’. The covenant commits signees to providing healthy and hygienic environmental conditions, controlling epidemic diseases, improving child health and facilitating access to health services without discrimination.
