The President of the Republic of Mauritius, Honourable Prithvirajsing Roopun invited Dr Laurent Musango, WHO Representative in Mauritius at the State House, Reduit on 03 June 2020 to discuss the current situation and future perspective regarding prevention and control of COVID-19.  It was also an opportunity for the President to debate with WHO Representative on the overall health system in Mauritius, and what needs to be strengthened.

Dr Laurent Musango congratulated Mauritius on behalf of the three levels of the World Health Organization, namely local, regional and headquarters, for its commitment and determination in fighting the dreadful COVID-19. The latter explained the active presence of WHO in the high-level committees and National Task Force on COVID-19 chaired by the Prime Minister, Honourable Pravind Kumar Jugnauth.  The role of WHO in providing the necessary advice and guidance to the committee was stress by Dr Musango.

“ The containment of the disease in the country and the decreasing COVID-19 cases were due mainly to the commitment of the high authorities in Mauritius”, underlined Dr Musango, who added that the country is among very few countries in the world which have been able to stop the spread of the infection two months after the first three COVID-19 confirmed cases were registered.  This achievement would not have been possible without the coordination and commitment of the Prime Minister himself and the engagement of the whole population said Dr Musango.

The WHO Representative in Mauritius pointed out the positive impact of the stringent measures taken by the Government of Mauritius to save the lives of its people.  The almost immediate national lockdown followed a few days later with a ‘Sanitary Curfew’ order have been catalytic in reducing the spread of the infection in the community.  In addition, strong measures were taken to enforce hygiene and social distancing.

“The Government of Mauritius was committed at the very start of the outbreak in investing in procurement of all required equipment and materials, including personal protective equipment (PPE), medicines and related logistics for the strengthening of the laboratory capacity", pointed out Dr Musango.

Dr Musango informed the President of the support provided by WHO in giving the necessary guidance on the strengthening of surveillance at the different points of entry and the setting up of the Quarantine Centres in Mauritius.

“WHO is greatly satisfied that all the guidance, advice and recommendations given to the country have been considered in the prevention and control of COVID-19", said Dr Musango.

Honourable President P.  Roopun was appraised that the present health system in Mauritius is considered good.  “However, it is always good to improve every time to ensure quality health care; and therefore, WHO proposed to the Government to establish COVID-19 Testing Centres in the country for early detection in the future.  These Testing centres will also serve as surveillance centres for other diseases including dengue, chikungunya and malaria among others”, added Dr Musango.

WHO strong collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Wellness through the joint National Assessment of the Health System conducted two years back was highlighted by Dr Musango who added that the recommendations of the assessment have been incorporated in the National Health Sector Strategic Plan.   He also said that the present health system in Mauritius as compared to many African countries is good but some improvements need to be done.

As regards to a question from the Honourable P. Roopun on the availability of a vaccine against COVID-19 and medicine to treat the disease, Dr Musango replied that “a team of researchers is working under the coordination of WHO.  We are optimistic on the availability of a vaccine against COVID-19 but we cannot predict when exactly these will be available to protect the whole world population”.

The meeting ended with the reiteration of the commitment of WHO at the three levels of the Organization and its continuous commitment to support the country to protect the health of the population because we have to continue to be vigilant to avoid a new curve of COVID-19 in the country, as the virus is still circulating in the world.