Budget and health

In the last budget, our minister of Finance expressed the wish to convert Mauritius into a ?hi-tech medical hub? with the building of a modern cardiac centre in Pamplemousses to start with. He must be congratulated for this most laudable endeavour but, in my opinion, much more should have been done in terms of prevention. As goes the saying ?Prevention is better than cure?.

We all know that coronary heart disease (CHD) is a great killer responsible for some 30% or more deaths in Mauritius. Amongst the most important risk factors of CHD, are diabetes and hypertension. In spite of numerous government efforts and campaigns to reduce the prevalence of these diseases, they are on the increase. Mauritians can boast themselves to be champions in both diabetes and hypertension with over 20% of the adult population suffering from diabetes and some 30% suffering from hypertension. There are few simple measures, which could have helped those afflicted to control their disease better. The exemption of 15% VAT on basic equipment such as glucometers, glucose and other test strips and sphygnomanometers would be most welcome. A glucometer or sphygnomanometer can be of invaluable help to a diabetic or hypertensive patient in that the patient can help to control his disease him/herself and thus avoid/delay complications such as CHD, renal failure, retinopathy and amputations, which are a great burden to the patient, to his family and, last but not least, to the state. We have only to mention that cardiac surgery and renal dialysis dispensed to affected patients are already costing a colossal amount of money to the government. I believe that all medical equipment should be exempt from VAT, be it the simple glucometer or ECG machines or other more sophisticated equipment, ultimately for the benefit of the Mauritian patient.

Recently, I read that, according to a doctor working in the public service, in the outpatient department (OPD) of our hospitals, doctors can only devote 12 minutes/ year to a patient suffering from a non-communicable disease, that is only three minutes per consultation (l?express 26.03.05). In some departments, the problem is a lot worse with doctors sometimes having to consult over 120 patients in a two-hour session, that is less than one minute for a patient on average. I think that Mauritius is the only country in the world where this happens. Doesn?t the Mauritian patient deserve better? In the budget the Government expresses the wish to fill in 1250 vacancies in the ministry of Health. However, no mention is made of recruiting or increasing the number of doctors to improve this hopeless and appalling situation.

Nowadays, Government has to recruit doctors from abroad and it is costing Government a lot more to employ these doctors with payment of airfares or monthly housing allowance amounting to some Rs11,000 or more (tax free) per employee. Wouldn?t it have been wiser to improve the working conditions prevailing in the service to encourage Mauritian doctors to stay and work in Mauritius, instead of going to work elsewhere where the pastures are greener?

Government plans to spend Rs75 million to improve Jeetoo Hospital. I believe this is just a drop of water in the ocean. What we need is a brand-new, modern hospital in the capital. The Government should be congratulated for having built new hospitals in Souillac and to replace Brown Sequard. Why not one in Port Louis? We have been promised uplifting and upgrading of Jeetoo Hospital numerous times in previous budgets but not to much avail so far. Anybody who visits the operating theatre, the casualty department or the different wards at Jeetoo Hospital will surely agree with me.

I hope that my few humble suggestions will be taken note of in the next budget or hopefully long before that.

Dr Lailah B. FAKIM