Seypec, MCB contribute to health ministry’s heart survey |29 September 2023

A souvenir photograph after the handover of the donations

The Ministry of Health has received gift vouchers worth R420,000 from the Seychelles Petroleum Company (Seypec) and a portable ultrasound system with two broadband transducers amounting  to US $15,000 from the Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) as contributions towards its heart survey in the country.

The heart survey, which started in August 2023 and is expected to end by December 2023, is aimed at examining the current risk factors of cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases such as cancer and kidney diseases in the population.

The survey being conducted by staff from the Unit for Prevention and Control of Cardiovascular Diseases within the Ministry, will cover 1500 persons between the ages of 18-74 years, randomly sampled on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue.

For this survey, participants are being questioned about their socio-economic characteristics, health behaviours and conditions, as well as undergo several clinical measurements such as blood pressure and body weight including ultrasound examination of their carotid arteries and various blood tests among others.

The information collected is to help the ministry plan and improve on the provision of health services with regard to prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.

The last heart survey was held in 2013.

The gift vouchers for participants taking part in the survey and the portable ultrasound system to diagnose heart problems were presented to Minister Peggy Vidot by the chief executive of Seypec, Sarah Romain and the marketing and communication executive at MCB, Catherina Meriton respectively in a short ceremony held at the UPCCD yesterday morning.

Present were the public health commissioner, Dr Jude Gedeon and other senior staff of the ministry including staff from the UPCCD.

It was the ministry that approached the two organisations for sponsorships.

Mrs Romain said that Seypec was very honoured to contribute towards the survey to help the Ministry of Health tackle the burden of non-communicable diseases that is impacting on the health and wellbeing of the population.

“This is why we are standing side by side with the Ministry of Health today, to show our support because we don’t believe that the Ministry of Health should be tackling the problem on its own, single-handedly. I believe there should be a national effort and this is where we come in to show our support,” Mrs Romain said.

Ms Meriton said that it was an opportune moment for MCB to participate in the survey as it does not only believe in success beyond numbers but also in taking to heart the benefits the local community will gain.

“We look forward to continuously support the government in its endeavours towards the local community and health as well,” Ms Meriton said.

Minister Vidot, who thanked the two sponsors for their generous donations, said that there are times, given the economic situation, that the ministry will need outside help.

She added that although the ministry has contributed R1.2 million towards the survey, it was still costing a lot to conduct it.

“Without these two contributions, it would have been very difficult for us to do the study. We are grateful to Seypec and MCB for your generous and kind donations,” said Minister Vidot, who noted that the survey will not only help the country with useful health information for the way forward but also to the participants who would know of the changes to make to improve their health.

Patrick Joubert