Minister Zialor’s message on the occasion of World Population Day |10 July 2021

Minister Zialor

‘Access to primary health for the population must remain at the forefront during the pandemic’

“Once again Seychelles joins the rest of the World to commemorate World Population Day on July 11, 2021. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has dedicated this year’s theme ‘Putting the brake to Covid-19: Protect our population by safeguarding the health and rights of all people’.

“The world indeed continues to be faced with many challenges related to Covid-19 and among the many challenges is the right to universal health care for all. The world must never forget that access to primary health for the population must remain at the forefront during the pandemic. We must also be cautious that access to sexual and reproductive health must continue to be on the agenda to ensure the sustainable growth of our population. We must never forget other essential services such as access to food, shelter and employment must remain a priority for the population during this tried moment.

“While the government is responsible to ensure universal access to health care, the actual situation of Covid-19 is a wake-up call for our personal health care… ‘Nou lasante, Nou responsabilite’. Today we are called to educate ourselves and practice health measures for the betterment of our lives and those of our families and community. The government is well aware of the enormous health, economic, environmental and social challenges that Seychelles as a nation is facing and the impacts that Covid-19 will cause on our population.

“The challenges of Covid-19 have exposed our fragility and our weaknesses. Covid-19 has come with many challenges to parents since most children are now being home-schooled. This presents an opportunity for parents to be more engaged in the education of their children, thus strengthening parental obligations.

“Covid-19 has caused many economic setbacks for individuals, families, and at a national level. However, it is a time for more initiatives to help us raise beyond the financial constraints. Budgeting is no longer a matter of choice but an obligation. As the government strives to ensure the wellbeing of its citizens, those who are earning less income are called upon to be innovative and come up with initiatives that will not only improve their livelihoods but the quality of their lives.

“While there have been some alarming predictions of the demographic and long-term impact of Covid-19, the fact is, the long-term impact of Covid-19 is not yet clear on our population. Thus, it is important to stay focus on the implementation of existing policies and ensure targeted services towards specific groups of the population. We as a nation should focus on how to harness our demographic dividends by strengthening the education, empowerment and employment of the youth, by encouraging our employable active population group to share their experience and harness the values from our elderly to share in the education and empowerment of our youth.

“I take time to acknowledge and commend all agencies and organisations in the public and private sectors as well as the civil societies which continue to provide health and other essential services to various groups of our population. Let us continue to intensify our efforts to engage individually, as families and communities to ensure that our population’s needs are met.

“I take this opportunity today to salute and share my profound appreciation for the dedication and hard work of all our health professionals and those from essential services who continue to work tirelessly to keep our country safe from Covid-19.”

Marie-Celine Zialor

Minister for Youth, Sports & Family