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The heath services form past of the comprehensive range of services and are designed to promote improvement in the health of the people and in the prevention, diagnosis, and
treatment of illness.
Health services have been constantly upgraded in Mauritius. The result is a marked improvement in the health of the population. Infectious diseases have largely been
controlled. With the rapid spread of primary health care facilities all over the island, infant mortality rate has been brought down considerably. Life expectancies have reached the level of developed
countries.
Health care in the public sector is free of charge to all Mauritians, irrespective of income levels. Hospitals and Health care Services function under the control and
responsibility of the Ministry of Health. Health offices located throughout the island cater for services like environmental sanitation and hygiene, epidemiological surveillance and control of communicable
diseases, food hygiene and quality control of food, school health, port and airport health, health and hygiene in factory premises, nutrition and health education.
The Family Planning, Maternal and Child Health Division offers a wide range of services like anti-natal care, domiciliary midwifery, child health clinics, immunisations, family
planning and family health education.
An important objective is to decentralise health and medical services so as to improve management and delivery of services throughout the country. The health sector is laying
emphasis on primary health care, by making integrated preventive and curative health care accessible to all individuals and families through a network of health centres. Specialist services are being further
strengthened. A Surgical Cardiac Centre has been set up where open Heart surgery programmes are being performed. Virology Unit, set up at the Central Pathological Laboratory in Candos, is playing a vital role in
AIDS prevention programme.
The past decade has witnessed the emergence of a higher incidence of non-communicable diseases such as heart problems, hypertension, and diabetes. A massive campaign of information
and education has been launched to encourage the population to adopt better food habits and to do regular exercise.
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