TB and stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS if the country is to achieve MDG 6 by 2015. The 2013 MDG progress report for Seychelles highlights the need for widespread surveying of key populations, including sex workers and prison inmates, in a bid to develop prevention and intervention programming, as well as methods of sustaining national HIV and AIDS programmes. For definitions, sources and explanations on the Millennium Development Goals see page 314. Universal health coverage Just seven per cent of health care in Seychelles was paid for by patients or funded by other non-governmental entities – such as private insurers, charities or employers – in 2012. Total health expenditure constituted 4.7 per cent of GDP in 2012, of which 93 per cent (US$486 per capita) was covered by the government. The country’s Health Strategic Framework 2006–16 is based on the principles of the ‘right to health care, health for all and health by all’, as set out in the Constitution. The 2013 MDG progress report for Seychelles highlighted the need for more inclusive medical and health service provision for mothers and children, including widespread improvements in antenatal, delivery and postnatal services, with the aim of raising health care to international standards. Seychelles was not an original signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, but acceded to it in 1984 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. S e y c h e l l e s Care of the elderly: Around 7,000 people in Seychelles are over the age of 65 – eight per cent of the total population (2013). At the age of 60 a person in the Seychelles can be expected to live for an additional 19 years, on average (2013). The country’s old-age pension (the Social Security Fund) dates back to 1979. Public pension spending was equivalent to 2.9 per cent of the country’s total economic output in 2006. Population over 65 The National Council for the Elderly, created as a result of an act of parliament in 1997, co-ordinates the activities of public and private organisations engaged in providing welfare to the elderly, as well as organising services and programmes for older people. Government policy states that those elderly people who are independent are eligible for places in state-owned district homes, with self-catering facilities. Home carers visit elderly people who have chosen to remain in their own homes or live with family. There is also an old people’s home at North East Point. Further information Ministry of Health: www.health.gov.sc Commonwealth Health Online: www.commonwealthhealth.org/health/africa/seychelles Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015 257 8%
Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015
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