Mauritius 26 June 2015 – The fifth meeting of Ministers of Health of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the WHO African Region ended with delegates agreeing on a range of concrete actions to tackle their common health problems.

At the end of the three-day meeting, delegates agreed to among other actions; establish a national NCD commission to coordinate the national response across all sectors and guarantee that the specificities of SIDS are taken into the SDG.

They also agreed to explore the possibility of a pooled procurement of medicines and medical products in order to reduce prices and to conduct a risk-benefit assessment of introducing the HPV vaccine and engage in discussions to secure affordable prices for new vaccines including HPV. They decided to set up national multisectoral IHR task forces in each country to facilitate IHR implementation and monitoring as well as the implementation of health solutions and sharing of best practices

Delegates agreed to generate a common position on climate change ahead of the Paris Summit on Climate Change (COP2). They also endorsed the development of policies and strategies towards UHC as well as mapping of human resource needs within SIDS and facilitating “circular migration” within the SIDs.

Speaking at the closing session, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Director for Africa,

Dr Matshidiso Moeti observed that the health challenges faced by SIDS require collective cross-border, multi-sectoral actions. “Indeed, it is only by working together and cooperating with one another that SIDS can achieve the goals that they have set themselves,” she said,

The Regional Director pointed out that given the given the concerns raised in relation to emergencies and ongoing outbreaks in the Region, it was important that the SIDS join forces in strengthening their IHR core capacities. She also called for active engagement in issues related to the health consequences of climate change.

In his remarks, the Minister of Health and Quality of life of Mauritius  Honourable Anil Kumarsingh Gayan called on SIDS to pool resources together and jointly procure medical supplies, equipment and consumables.  “This measure will ensure not only better pricing strategy and control on the quality of the medication but will also provide stronger bargaining powers with pharmaceutical companies”, he said.

The Health Minister called for urgent action to address non-communicable diseases in a meaningful and sustainable manner.  He said diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, substance abuse and other NCDs represent an ever increasing burden on health resources and unless the trend is reversed, the burden of disease will give way to the burden of patients.

Honourable Gayan stated that as most of the SIDS in the African Region are middle income countries and do not meet the GAVI criteria for assistance for the purchase of cheap vaccines, there is the need to re-engage with the donor community to get them to revisit the eligibility criteria for the purchase of vaccines especially new ones, at a preferential rate. 

The Fifth Meeting of Ministers of Health of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the WHO African Region was held in Mauritius from 24 to 26 June 2015.

The meeting was organised by the World Health Organization and attended by the Vice President in charge of the Ministry of Health from the Comoros, the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of health from Cape Verde, the Minister of Health and Quality of Life from Mauritius, as well as representatives Indian Ocean Commission and national experts from the ministries of health of Seychelles and Sao Tome and Principe.

The objective of the meeting was to share information and experiences on the health challenges of SIDS. The meeting also discussed issues related to universal health coverage, social determinants of health, climate change, health security, knowledge sharing, human papillomavirus vaccine introduction, non-communicable diseases and areas of collaboration and networking.

Seychelles will host the sixth SIDS meeting.