Seychelles

The State recognizes the right of every citizen to protection of health and to the enjoyment of attainable standard of physical and mental health. To ensure the effective exercise of the right, the State performs, among other things, the following: take steps to provide for free primary health care in State institutions for all its citizens; take measures to prevent, treat and control epidemic and other diseases; take steps to steps to reduce infant mortality and promote the healthy development of the of the child and promote individual responsibility in health matters.

The Constitution does not include provisions dealing specifically with mandate over health matters. It does provide however that legislative power of Seychelles is vested in the National Assembly (art. 85).

The main goal of the Seychelles National Health Policy 2015 is to guide strategic planning, program development, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation to ensure the health of the Seychellois nation (page 1).

The policy identifies several priorities and objectives, including improving health status through preventive, promotive, curative, palliative, and rehabilitative health programs; providing high-quality integrated health care services; strengthening governance and accountability; achieving self-sufficiency in human resources for health; ensuring sustainable health financing; promoting research and innovation; and supporting the growth of the private health sector and public-private partnerships (page 14).

The document lists several legislative and regulatory documents. For example, the Constitution of Seychelles that recognizes the right of every citizen to protection of health (page 4), the Food Act governing food safety (page 4) as well as frameworks for governing health provision and workforce - the Public Health Authority Act, the Health Care Agency Act and the Allied Health Professionals Act (page 6).

The policy outlines several interventions related to health laws and regulations. For example, under the promoting and protecting direction, it provides for the need to support appropriate, evidence-based policies, regulations, strategies, etc. that address the priority communicable and non-communicable diseases. It also establishes the need to support and facilitate the implementation of all evidence-based policies, regulations, strategies and programmes and projects that prevent and control antimicrobial resistance (page 15).

The main goals of the National Health Strategic Plan 2022-2026 are to increase life expectancy and healthy life expectancy; achieve and sustain all dimensions of Universal Health Coverage (UHC); prevent, prepare for, detect early and respond adequately to all health emergencies; and promote healthy populations (page 36).

The strategic plan identifies several key strategic directions that are represented by six pillars: strengthen leadership, governance, and administration; protect and improve UHC; improve health security; promote healthy populations; invest for results; and improve data for impact (page 37).

The document references several legislative and regulatory frameworks, including the Constitution of Seychelles (pages 1-2, 60), the Misuse of Drugs Act (page 15) and the Public Health Authority Act (page 57).

The strategic plan outlines specific actions related to laws and regulations. For instance, the plan establishes the need to develop regulations to strengthen reporting from private facilities under objective 3 on health security (page 58). Under the same objective, the plan also provides for the finalization of regulations for registration of health and health-related facilities, as well as revision and update of the existing and required public health laws and regulations (page 58). Furthermore, one of the key interventions under the objective on the promotion of healthy populations establishes the requirement to develop policies and regulations to control the use of alcohol (page 67). In addition, the strategic plan establishes an intervention to revise the regulatory framework to give Professional Councils the power and authority to deliver on all functions of a professional regulatory body (page 78). Finally, the Medical Products and Pharmacy Operations Bill shall be enacted and implemented to create a legislative framework for health technologies (page 82).