Public Health Delivery In Mauritius

Public wellness Delivery In MauritiusAs the saying goes health is wealth, the provision of proper health treat is extremely important as this implies well-being, happiness, and a good quality of life. A well-grounded commonwealth is essential for the growth and prosperity of a country. A nations health carcass should thus aim at providing quality healthcare to its population.The Ministry of wellness eccentric of intent, to whom an all overall yearly budget of Rs 5 billion is allocated, provides populace healthcare in Mauritius as a welfare expediency. (Source sunrise(prenominal)ssheet Ministry of health feeling of sustenance July 2009). As at the year ended 2008, health operate were provided through 13 public hospitals including 5 specialised ones, 22 Area health Centres and 108 Community wellness Centres located throughout the country. (Source Ministry of Health theatrical role of Life).Free healthcare provided by the Ministry of Health prize of Life has im proved the health situation of the citizens of Mauritius. This is shown in table 1.2 below. delay 1.2 Health Indicators in Mauritius for the years 1990 and 2008 (Source Ministry of Health Quality of Life)The health indicators in Table 1.2 show favourable changes in the health situation of Mauritians in 2008 compared to 1990. apart(predicate) from providing health services to the citizens of Mauritius through its hospitals and health centres, The Ministry of Health Quality of Life being senior high schoolly implicated about the well-being of the Mauritian population, tries to raise awareness amongst them by carrying out several welfare activities. The latter admit the launching of a Mobile Clinic which was done on 7 may 2009, public demonstration of physical activities such as yoga, aerobics, Tai ki and physical exercise that are organised to encourage people to learn a healthy lifestyle, tips given with regards to a healthy nutrition so as to fight obesity, organising emp owerment programmes to sensitise the population on the indecent effects of tobacco and alcohol, talks on stress management and a National Cancer Control Programme has been developed to fight against ordurecer. (Source Newsletter Ministry of Health Quality of Life July 2009)Furthermore, The Ministry of Health Quality of Life aims at improving the quality of healthcare provided to the citizens of Mauritius. Recently, on 27 April 2009, it introduced the implementation of the ISO 9001 2008 in health services so as to profit customer triumph and meet the needs of the Mauritian population. (Newsletter Ministry of Health Quality of Life July 2009). The upcoming plans of the Ministry include the setting up of Medical Schools where proper training entrust be given to healthcare providers and improving the hospitality and catering services provided in its hospitals. (Source Newsletter Ministry of Health Quality of Life March 2009)From the above, it can be noted that The Ministry of Health Quality of Life is passing concerned with the health of the citizens of Mauritius. However despite all the efforts of The Ministry of Health Quality of Life, the Mauritian population does not seem to be fully satisfied with its healthcare services. Patients are increasingly filing medical malpractice cases which nowadays are repeatedly seen as being the headline of many newspapers. Media reporting has created an increased awareness of harm related to healthcare errors.Additionally, despite the fact that industrialisation and frugal growth during the last years have positively changed the lifestyle and the quantity of living of the Mauritian population, the latter is highly exposed to diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, cancer, HIV/AIDS and so forth. Research has shown that 1 out of 5 Mauritians aged 30 and above has diabetes that is mostly caused ascribable to obesity, unhealthy consume habits, lack of physical activity and alcohol abuse. (Source Newslett er Ministry of Health Quality of Life July 2009)The HIV/AIDS status in Mauritius is quite high with 3792 cases registered from October 1987 to March 2009. This has resulted in 249 deaths as at March 2009. Prior to 2000, 20 to 30 new cases of HIV were being reported each year. However over the period of 2001 2005 the number had increased by almost twice annually 55 in 2001, 98 in 2002, 225 in 2003, 525 in 2004 and 921 in 2005. The 538 new cases registered in 2008 showed that in spite of all the efforts of the Ministry of Health Quality of Life, HIV in Mauritius is on a rising trend. (Source Ministry of Health Quality of Life An analysis of Health bunk in Mauritius as at year ended 2008)Furthermore each year more than 1400 new cases of cancer are registered in Mauritius. In 2008, 12% of all deaths were due to this disease. (Source Newsletter Ministry of Health Quality of Life July 2009)Heart diseases and Diabetes mellitus were the first two main causes of mortality in 2008. Co mparing the causes of death in 2008 with those of 1975Causes19752008 on the whole diseases related to the circulatory governing body including heart diseases28.4%35.0%Diabetes Mellitus2.7%22.8%Table 1.3 Causes of death in the years 1975 and 2008 (Source Ministry of Health Quality of Life An analysis of Health Situation in Mauritius for the year ended 2008)Table 1.3 shows a rapid increase in death due to heart diseases and diabetes mellitus over the last ternion decades. This can be explained by a change in the lifestyle and eating habits of the citizens of Mauritius which is making them become more prone to such non-communicable diseases. morbidity in Mauritius and the litigation/complaints concerning medical mal-practice therefore indicate that the Ministry of Health Quality of Life is not meeting the needs of the Mauritian population.The healthcare system in Mauritius is getting bigger and more complex as the expectations of the population are increasing. The citizens of Mauri tius who are now better educated, have become highly demanding in terms of choice, access, quality of care and service. They furthermore feel that the system is deteriorating and becoming less responsive to their needs as the press yet publicises the bad points. Such negative media comments definitely demoralise the health care providers.The aim of this project is to investigate the problems faced by the public health care sector of Mauritius. This will be done through an existential study at Flacq Hospital, one of the well-known general hospitals operated by the Ministry of Health Quality of Life. Throughout this study, it is intended to assess the healthcare quality provided at Flacq Hospital and analyse the factors linked to service experience and patient satisfaction.By evaluating patient experience important information can be obtained for identifying problems and victorious appropriate measures for quality improvement in health-care facilities (Labarere and Franois, 1999 B atchelor et al., 1994). Improving the quality of service in hospitals will thus be beneficial to everybody namely patients, physicians, care for staff, management and tax-payers. Such a win-win situation will be beneficial to the whole country.