|
Seychelles HEALTH AND WELFARE
Health and nutritional conditions are remarkably good,
approaching those of a developed country. The favorable
projections of life expectancy are attributable in large
degree
to a salubrious climate, an absence of infectious diseases
commonly associated with the tropics (such as malaria,
yellow
fever, sleeping sickness, and cholera), and the
availability of
free medical and hospital services to all Seychellois.
The National Medical Service operated by the Ministry
of
Health provides free medical treatment to all citizens.
The
principal medical institution is the 421-bed Victoria
Hospital,
which has medical, surgical, psychiatric, pediatric, and
maternity departments. Five other hospitals and clinics
have a
combined 113 beds in general wards, and a psychiatric
hospital
has sixty beds. In addition, a total of twenty-five
outpatient
clinics exist on Mahé, Praslin, and La Digue. Most of the
fortyeight doctors and ten dentists come from overseas; few
Seychellois who go abroad for training return to practice
medicine.
Improvements in prenatal and postnatal care since the
late
1970s have brought the infant mortality rate down from
more than
fifty per 1,000 live births in 1978, to an estimated 11.7
in
1994, a rate comparable to that of Western Europe. Some 90
percent of protein in the diet is derived from fish,
which, along
with lentils, rice, and fruits, gives most families access
to a
reasonably nutritious diet. Nevertheless, many prevailing
health
problems, especially among children, result from poverty,
limited
education, poor housing, polluted water, and unbalanced
diets.
Local threats to health include intestinal parasites
such as
hookworm and tapeworm. Venereal diseases are widespread,
and
local programs to contain their spread have been described
as
ineffective. Dengue fever epidemics--although not
fatal--have
periodically struck large segments of the population,
causing
severe discomfort and unpleasant aftereffects. Alcoholism
is a
serious problem, and narcotic use--mainly of marijuana and
heroin--is beginning to appear among the young. In late
November
1992, the Ministry of Health confirmed the first case of
acquired
immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS); a year previously the
ministry
had announced that twenty people tested positively for the
human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Under the social security law, employers and employees
contribute to a national pension program that gives
retirees a
modest pension. Self-employed persons contribute by paying
15
percent of gross earnings. The government also has a
program to
provide low-cost housing, housing loans, and building
plots,
although the program is said to reflect favoritism on
behalf of
SPPF supporters.
Data as of August 1994
|
