Cabinet press briefing   |03 February 2023

VP Afif and Ms Moumou during the press briefing

VP Afif explains reasons for new policy and legal memoranda

Chaired by President Wavel Ramkalawan, the Cabinet on Tuesday approved a number of policy and legal memoranda in its second meeting for the year.

Among the approvals was the repeal of the National Aids Council (NAC) Act. The functions of the council will be discharged by the Public Health Authority which is the body responsible for disease prevention and control.

In a cabinet debriefing held at State House and broadcast live for the first time on TéléSesel, Vice-President Ahmed Afif said the decision to repeal the act was part of the re-organisation and restructuring of the Ministry of Health with the aim of improving efficiency and to address the HIV/Aids problem in a cohesive manner given that there is an institutional body in place which deals with disease prevention and control, including for HIV/Aids.

Presently, there are 1,000 people living with HIV/Aids in the country.

He stated that when HIV/Aids was a predominant subject, at a time when the health authority was not totally prepared for the fight against the spread of the virus, NAC was introduced to coordinate efforts to contain the spread of the virus.

He noted that as time passed, the ministry adopted new legal frameworks in the setting up of the Health Care Agency in 2013 and the Public Health Authority in 2015, which were non-existent at the time of the creation of NAC which is conducting all the HIV tests along with the communicable disease control unit (CDCU) which is providing treatment imported by the Health Care Agency which all falls under the umbrella of the ministry.

Vice-President Afif added that with all the developments and expertise gained in the fight against HIV/Aids, among other diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer, it has been felt that it is not necessary, at this point in time, to have a specific council to oversee only one disease when the same work is being done by other institutions within the ministry.

“We all know of the new developments, we cannot at this point in time have a council for diabetes, a council for hypertension or one for cancer. I think all of those diseases and others can be taken up by the Health Care Agency and Public Health Authority and they are doing an excellent job. Through this coordinated effort, it will also allow us to make better use of our resources in the fight to contain not only HIV/Aids but other diseases as well,” said VP Afif who noted that no staff will be made redundant or will be worse off in terms of remuneration as a result of the transition.

VP Afif noted that while people are still being infected and dying from HIV/Aids, the disease continues to be an important health concern for government and the fight against the virus will continue.

He thanked all those who fought and are still fighting the virus and up to now only less than 1% of the population has been recorded to be infected with the virus.

He stated that most of the 1,000 infected patients are being treated and the education programme against HIV/Aids will continue, just like for the other diseases.

The National Aids Council was originally launched on May 24, 2002 but became a legal entity through the National Aids Council of Seychelles Act, 2013 (Act13 of 2013) in December 2013. The aim of the council was to combat the spread of HIV and Aids, and to address related matters.

Cabinet also approved the new agreement between the Republic of Seychelles and the European Union (EU) on access for Seychelles-flagged fishing vessels to the waters of Mayotte and for the Seychelles representative in Brussels to sign the agreement.  An agreement between the two countries is needed to avoid IUU (illegal, unreported, unregulated) fishing especially because fishing vessels move in and out of regional exclusive economic zones (EEZ). The agreement will provide for the fees, and other conditions such as regional obligations, exchange of information and conservation measures. The fishing opportunities granted under this agreement will be for a maximum of eight tuna purse seiners.

Elaborating further, VP Afif said that the decision to allow Seychelles-flagged fishing vessels to fish in the waters of Mayotte was because the waters of the French state, as legal fishing grounds for the flagged vessels, was not part of the previous agreement. He added that this agreement, amid control measures, will allow for more economic activities for which our country will benefit a license fee of 135 euros per ton of fish caught including an advance payment of 13,550 euros per 100 tons upon signing the agreement.

He noted the agreement will have to be discussed and approved by the National Assembly before application.

Cabinet approved the 2024-2026 Result-Based Management (RBM) calendar. The calendar is a guide to the planning, preparation and presentation of the 2024-2026 budget, and reporting on the 2022 and 2023 budget. The calendar also establishes clear timeframes for ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to prepare for and execute the different RBM activities during the calendar year.

VP Afif remarked that RBM, which is common worldwide, is not only used by governments but also by the private sector. He said while he is happy that people understand the concept of RBM, training on the subject will be given to all workers so that “we all understand what it entails and how it works in terms of implementation and evaluation”.

Cabinet was briefed on the status of the Seychelles Child Development Study. The study which started in 1987 had as aim to study the effects on child development from pre-natal exposure to mercury in the maternal diet rich in fish in which mercury occurs naturally.

Over 6,500 Seychellois individuals (children and mothers) have been directly involved as participants in the study. The results of the study have shown that naturally occurring mercury in fish has no adverse effect on prenatal or post natal development of children. 

Results from the research also show the good health and development of Seychellois children, adolescents and young adults, and support existing knowledge about the factors influencing early childhood development including maternal age and education, gender, home environment, socio-economic situation. The rich data collected provides many other avenues for continued research on the infant, child and adolescent population. It was also confirmed that the data will be further used to inform policy development in the country.

“This study has shown that fish, even with a certain level of mercury, is good for consumption and we should continue also to encourage people to eat fish and to also follow closely the development of our children to identify risk factors which may affect them as they grow older,” VP Afif said.   

Cabinet also discussed the results of the Mo Ibrahim Index 2021 recently published.  Seychelles is now classed as number two in Africa for governance from a ranking of three.

President Ramkalawan commended all ministers and their teams for the efforts and hard work put into achieving such good results. He confirmed that this result is a good indication that Seychelles is improving in its standards and performance. Seychelles scored 73.4 points out of a possible 100 points in respect of overall governance. Mauritius scored 74.9 points to take first position on the index.

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) is a composite index which gives a statistical measure of governance performance in 54 African countries. The IIAG governance framework comprises four categories: security and rule of law, participation, rights and inclusion, foundations for economic opportunity, and human development.

VP Afif said the result was satisfactory. He noted that we outscored Mauritius in three IIAG governance frameworks and it is only in the foundations for economic opportunity framework that the latter outscored us by 2.2 points (71 points to 68.8 points). He explained that we lost in that framework due to lack of air and sea transportation movements during the pandemic.

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) is released every year and our rating in 2019 was 71.6 and in 2020 it was 72.9.

While thanking the government and the private sector for achieving such a good rating, VP Afif said the country will be working to improve on it.

Cabinet further discussed the rating of Seychelles on the Transparency International Perception of Corruption Index.  Seychelles scored 70 and is still ranked number one in Africa and 23rd worldwide. Again, the president praised the Public Service Bureau for its efforts that contributed to this outcome. Botswana and Cabo Verde are both in second position with 60 points each. 

“It’s important to note that with our 70 points, we have surpassed the world average which is 43 points and that of Africa which is 32 points with regard to perception of corruption. It is also important to note that our score is also higher than the average score in Europe which is 66 points and that of the Asian Pacific which is 45 points and that means that we are doing very well in the fight against corruption,” said VP Afif, who noted that the country is working with local and international bodies to strengthen structures to fight corruption.

Cabinet members also registered their appreciation and that of the government to Vijay Patel for having sponsored the reconstruction of the National Institute of Health and Social Studies (NIHSS).  The institute which was reopened on Monday January 30, ensures that there is now a permanent school for nursing, health and social studies.

VP Afif was being assisted by the deputy cabinet secretary for policy affairs, Margaret Moumou.

Patrick Joubert / Press release from State House