A one-day training session on ‘Prioritising Maternal and Child Health Care for health personnel of the Ministry of Health and Wellness particularly for midwives’ kicked off, this morning, at the Caudan Arts Centre in Port Louis, in the context of the World Population Day 2021. The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Jagutpal, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) representative, Dr Laurent Musango, were present.
At the very outset, Dr Jagutpal highlighted that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has exposed weaknesses in health care systems globally. This situation, he stated, has caused serious gaps and challenges in the provision of sexual and reproductive health information and services.
While acknowledging that globally, people are living longer and healthier lives whilst couples are choosing to have fewer children, the Health Minister emphasised that for Mauritius, the policy of Government is now oriented towards a paradigm shift from reaching demographic targets to a long term vision for the sustainable development of the country.
Figures reveal that the proportion of the population in Mauritius aged 60 years and above has increased from 9,1% of the total mid-year population in 2000 to 17.6% in 2019. These figures are projected to increase to 28.2% in 2039 and 37.3% in 2059 while the proportion of the population aged 0-14 years has decreased from 25% of the total mid-year population in 2000 to 17.2% in 2019, he indicated.
In this context, Dr Jagutpal underlined that Government is sparing no efforts to improve and provide the population with a world class health services to attain sustainable development of Mauritius. Measures taken include the restructuring of the medical assistance and counselling to newly married couples, as well as empowerment of future families.
For his part, the WHO representative, Dr Musango underlined that while the population in Africa is growing, the replacement of the population in Mauritius is a big issue as it is the case in China and Japan. He indicated that the total fertility rate is well below replacement level of 2.1 children per woman which is the level needed for a woman to replace herself and her partner. In 2019, the total fertility rate was 1.35 children per woman, he added.
Dr Musango recalled that in 2019, Government had requested the support of the WHO and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for the elaboration of a National Population Policy (NPP) 2019-2030, an evidence-based document bridging population dynamics, quality of life and sustainable development Population Policy.
Lauding the NPP, the WHO representative underlined that several challenges have been identified in the policy. These are: enabling better family welfare, promoting an active and healthy lifestyle, instilling a better lifestyle and better eating habits among citizens, and preserving the health of the elderly.
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