The Seychelles Healthcare System: How to Get Care as a French National

The Ministry of Health (+248 438 8000) publishes the list of public facilities. The reference hospital is the Seychelles Hospital, in Victoria (+248 438 8000), to which are added a psychiatric hospital and community or specialist hospitals: Anse Royale, Baie Sainte-Anne (Praslin), St Mary’s, Family Hospital and North East Point. Health centres cover the districts of Mahé (Anse aux Pins, Anse Boileau, Baie Lazare, Beau Vallon, Beoliere, English River, Glacis, Les Mamelles, Mont Fleuri, Port Glaud, La Misère, Takamaka), Praslin (Grand’Anse) and Silhouette.

To choose where to live, identify the nearest health centre: the ministry lists in particular those at Anse aux Pins, Anse Boileau, Baie Lazare, Beau Vallon, English River, Glacis, Mont Fleuri, Port Glaud and Takamaka on Mahé, at Grand’Anse on Praslin (clinic) and on Silhouette. The Baie Sainte-Anne hospital and the Grand’Anse clinic are benchmarks for Praslin, while Victoria concentrates the reference hospital. A youth health centre (+248 438 8585) and a public dental service complete the offer.

The ministry also describes family health programmes (mother and child, adolescents and young people, school health, diabetes, sexual and reproductive health, palliative care, healthy ageing), a youth health centre and dental services. France Diplomatie sums up: primary care in Victoria and in certain districts, specialist care often abroad. The ministry page specifies neither the fees applicable to non-residents or foreigners, nor the emergency number, nor the ambulance service: this information should be requested from the ministry or the facility.

The immigration service specifies that the holder of a residence permit has no right to free medical care or to the benefits of the 1987 social security act; the rights of an employee holding a gainful occupation permit (GOP) are confirmed with the employer and the ministry. France Diplomatie describes as essential an assistance contract or insurance covering all medical costs, surgery, hospitalisation and repatriation: without it, care may be unavailable even in a life-threatening emergency, and the embassy cannot pay for it.

France Diplomatie indicates that specialist care, particularly after an accident, often requires medical evacuation abroad or to Réunion, and that the archipelago has only one hyperbaric chamber, at the Mahé hospital. For water activities, where drownings and diving accidents occur, rescue capacity is limited. Check that medical evacuation and medical repatriation are in the contract, with a suitable ceiling, and that your assistance provider has a number reachable 24 hours a day. The names of private clinics are not repeated here: the network of providers is communicated by the insurer, and direct payment avoids paying up front when the facility is a partner.

First-line care is the district health centre or the Seychelles Hospital. Note the local emergency numbers on arrival and confirm them with the ministry: the France Diplomatie country page does not publish any. The French contacts are the embassy in Victoria (+248 422 55 13 or +248 422 55 16 during the day, +248 251 35 00 outside office hours) and the embassy in Mauritius (+230 20 20 100 outside office hours). The weather station answers on +248 467 0700.

• Take the strictly necessary medicines in their original packaging, with a prescription under the international non-proprietary name; local supply may be irregular (France Diplomatie).
• Plan a reserve for chronic treatments and check that they are authorised in the country.
• For a hike, take a phone and leave your itinerary at hotel reception.

• Mosquitoes: chikungunya and dengue, with no curative treatment; outbreaks in the rainy season, from December to February; avoid anti-inflammatory drugs for dengue; zika poses a risk in pregnancy.
• Water, food and soil: hepatitis A through contaminated food or water; leptospirosis through contact with water or soil contaminated by animal urine; drink bottled, capsule-sealed or treated water.
• Fauna: envenomations (snakes, scorpions, spiders, jellyfish); shark risk on Praslin, with a last recorded attack on 28 December 2019.
• Vaccines: French schedule up to date; yellow fever and polio compulsory for travellers coming from endemic areas, a valid certificate being required of travellers from at-risk countries; hepatitis A and B, typhoid, chikungunya and dengue depending on the length and the situation; mpox after a risk exposure.

See a doctor or an international vaccination centre well before departure.

France Diplomatie flags that drownings occur every year because of currents, reefs and marine fauna, that rescue resources are limited and that swimming bans must be respected. Shark attacks have taken place on Praslin, the last recorded on 28 December 2019; the country page advises staying close to the shore, avoiding deep water, not throwing food waste into the sea, avoiding brightly coloured swimsuits and not swimming at dawn or dusk.

Seychelles has only one hyperbaric chamber, at the Mahé hospital: a diver must make sure their contract covers diving accidents and their evacuation. Boaters request entry authorisation by email from the health authority (newport@health.gov.sc) and notify the MSCIO maritime safety centre before departure and on arrival.

Zika poses a risk of neurological complications and microcephaly: a woman who is pregnant or planning a pregnancy sees a doctor before travelling. France Diplomatie also reminds travellers of the prevention of sexually transmitted infections. The supply of medicines may be irregular: take the necessary medicines in their original packaging, with a prescription under the international non-proprietary name, and plan a reserve for chronic treatment.

Leptospirosis, transmitted by contact with water or soil contaminated by animal urine, is prevented by hygiene and, for exposed people, by vaccination; bites and envenomations (snakes, scorpions, spiders, jellyfish) should be known about before nature activities.

• Take out insurance covering care, hospitalisation, repatriation and evacuation abroad or to Réunion; check the cover of diving accidents.
• Review the vaccination schedule, yellow fever and polio for travellers from endemic areas, and seek advice on hepatitis A and B and typhoid.
• Note the contacts: French embassy in Victoria (+248 422 55 13), outside office hours +248 251 35 00, and Ministry of Health (+248 438 8000).
• Take the necessary medicines, as local supply may be irregular.
• Keep valuables and documents in a safe: petty crime, sometimes in hotels, is on the rise.

No social security agreement exists between France and Seychelles (CLEISS): the carte Vitale cannot be used. The options, depending on status, are the seconded employee’s retained scheme, the CFE (the French expatriates’ health fund) and international health insurance. The detail is in the page on healthcare reimbursement in Seychelles, the guide to healthcare systems around the world and the Seychelles country page.