Seychelles strengthens partnership with Indian hospitals |28 September 2019
A high-level delegation led by Health Minister Jean-Paul Adam is engaged in an official visit to India at the invitation of the Indian government.
As part of this visit, Minister Adam is touring several health facilities to further strengthen medical cooperation between the two countries.
He is accompanied by Dr Loren Reginald, special advisor to the minister; Dr Danny Louange, chief executive of the Health Care Agency; Dr Kenneth Henriette, director of the Seychelles Hospital and senior consultant paediatrician, Dr Xavier Rose.
The first stop on the itinerary is Chennai, where the delegation is touring hospitals where Seychellois patients are commonly referred.
They are also visiting hospitals that are interested in partnering with Seychelles for treatment, capacity building and potential investment in Seychelles through the development of a specialty hospital.
One of the institutions visited by the delegation is SIMS hospital and its affiliated medical college – SRM University. Patients have regularly been referred by the Health Care Agency to SIMS, with very good results. The hospital and university have committed to supporting the capacity building of Seychellois medical professionals with visits by consultants to Seychelles on a regular basis. Therefore, the partnership was formalised through the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) which emphasises capacity building. This was penned by Dr Louange and Dr Raju Sivasamy, vice-president, Medical Services of SIMS Hospital. An interest to develop both a hospital and medical college in Seychelles was also expressed by the SIMS leadership and they will be following the process for the establishment of a high-level medical centre.
The delegation also visited MIOT hospital, an institution with which the Seychelles government has a longstanding partnership of over 20 years. Seychellois patients continue to benefit from high quality of varied treatment and care from the establishment and MIOT has also consistently deployed medical consultants to
visit Seychelles. Just this year, the HCA also organised the treatment of over 20 congenital heart defects among infants and children in partnership with them. During this visit, the delegation also visited Seychellois patients currently being treated at the hospital. As a long-standing partner, MIOT has also expressed interest in the specialty hospital initiative.
The minister with his delegation also undertook a courtesy visit to the Dental and Maxilo-Facial Clinic of Prof S.M Balaji. Professor Balaji has visited Seychelles regularly since 1999 to provide surgical interventions for numerous Seychellois citizens. Moreover, the group also visited Kauvery specialty hospital group where in depth interactions were undertaken with the team of specialists. The Kauvery specialty hospital is a fast expanding group in India which prioritises quality care at affordable prices and has been actively engaged in discussions about possible investment in a specialty tertiary hospital.
While in Chennai, the delegation also visited the specialty facility of the Glen Eagles Specialty Hospital, part of the Panthai Parkway Group which also includes Fortis Hospitals. This allowed the delegation to discuss opportunities for medical treatment as well as training of medical professionals. The group’s existing international reach positions them as a strong potential partner in the establishment of a specialty hospital in Seychelles.
Lastly, the delegation also undertook a visit to Sri Ramachandra Institute for Higher Education and Research, which is a leading medical teaching hospital in India. There they explored options for training of medical personally including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapist and a wide range of other allied health roles, as well as specialisation options.
The delegation continued on to Bangalore and Delhi where Minister Adam was expected to meet his counterpart yesterday.
The accompanying photos show some highlights of the minister’s visit.
