World Health Organisation (WHO) has donated over 76 tablets to the Seychelles Ministry of Health to improve data management within the context of Covid-19 and the health system as a whole.
The global health body said the latest delivery of tablets will further support decentralisation services undertaken by the Infection Prevention and Control programme, Public Health Services and National Health Accounts team.
The donation of the 76 tablets follows a first consignment of 28 laptops, which the WHO handed over to the country’s Ministry of Health in 2020 to support triage at different health facilities in the country.
According to Country Reports, medical facilities in the East African country are limited, especially on the isolated islands.
However, data from the World Bank shows that Seychelles has achieved impressive health care indicators and is on track for most of the millennium development goals.
The World Bank also noted that health outcome indicators for Seychelles compare favourably with many other small island states.
‘[Covid-19] may have brought many challenges upon us which we continue to deal with, but it has also provided us with many opportunities.
‘For one, the pandemic presents an opportunity to strengthen the health system; among them better use of information and communication technology that will facilitate improvement and establishment of health systems for surveillance and data management’, WHO representative for Seychelles, Susan Tembo, said.
Receiving the donation, the Seychelles Minister of Health, Peggy Vidot, thanked the WHO for the support and said that the tablets will benefit the country as it continues to deal with new Covid-19 variants.
‘One thing that [Covid-19] has taught us is the importance of information communication and technology in health. The importance of how we use ICT to better mount a response and to better deliver on healthcare’, Vidot said.
‘In Seychelles we continue to use ICT to improve our response, improve our surveillance, contact tracing, data gathering and reporting, all which are key to guide prompt decision being undertaken by those of us in leadership’.
Seychelles has recorded 24,451 cumulative confirmed Covid-19 cases with 79 percent of the total population having received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine so far.
Source: WHO
Photo source: WHO
