Sri Lanka to treat Seychelles nationals requiring urgent medical treatment
The government of Seychelles has thanked Sri Lanka for accepting 35 of its nationals for urgent medical treatment in Colombo.
Issuing a statement, the High Commission of Seychelles has stated on behalf of the Government of Seychelles: “We wish to place on record our gratitude to the Government of Sri Lanka, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Health, for enabling the visit of a group of 35 citizens of Seychelles, 24 of whom require urgent medical care, of which 11 critical patients are being accompanied by their relatives, for coronary angiography and angioplasty, tetralogy fallout corrective surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, retinal detachment repair and many other high end surgery and interventions.”
The group arrived in Sri Lanka on Saturday (23) on a special Air Seychelles flight. This turnaround flight took back 14 Seychelles nationals who found themselves stranded in Sri Lanka due to the current situation and then onto Chennai to evacuate more Seychellois.
The patients have fulfilled all precautionary measures including the PCR tests in Seychelles and were cleared for foreign travel. On arrival, they were transferred to a hotel in Wadduwa for paid quarantine and were under the watchful eyes of the Sri Lankan Army and Ministry of Health, thereby complying fully with the quarantine protocol of the Government of Sri Lanka.
The medical team from Sri Lanka’s Hemas Hospital was present at the quarantine centre to receive the patients, assess their health condition and to decide on the care plan while in quarantine. The Hemas Laboratory team had also extracted the PCR samples from all 35 citizens of Seychelles, which was sent for immediate testing, all tests were negative.
On completion of the quarantine period and clearance obtained after a second round of PCR testing for Covid-19, the Seychelles national will be admitted to Hemas Hospitals in Thalawathugoda and Wattala to continue their treatment and procedures.
“Sri Lanka has been a preferred destination for medical tourism among the Seychelles nationals over the last few years and we wish to thank Hemas Hospitals for their untiring effort in facilitating the visit of this group of patients and wish to state that this travel is testament to the trust and credibility on the health system of Sri Lanka,” the statement has noted.
“This also highlights the confidence Seychelles has in Sri Lanka as a safe destination to send their non-COVID patients for treatment even during a pandemic. We salute the armed forces and the medical teams in Sri Lanka led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for managing the pandemic very well that has given us the confidence to select Sri Lanka for medical treatment for foreign patients needing urgent critical care,” the statement has added.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry is a key revenue generator for the country with huge potential for further expansion. Sri Lanka was in the process of promoting medical tourism when the global Covid 19 pandemic resulted in a world wide lockdown. However, the current crisis situation has also created new opportunities. Sri Lanka is in the process of promoting medical tourism and the treating of Seychelles nationals is part of it. Foreign businesses/investors could therefore explore business/investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’s expanding tourism industry.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20200601/Z_5 |