At the initiation of Dr Bernard Valentin, (who declared himself more a patient than a doctor for the purposes of this Association), around twenty men and women from inside and outside of the Ministry of Health and from all walks of life, joined together on April 6th 2015 to form the first Seychelles Patients Association.
The Association intended to advocate for patients across all disease spectra. Seychelles Patients Association will be the first such association in Seychelles, given that the other patient advocacy associations in Seychelles (such as the Seychelles Diabetes Society, Cancer Concern Association, Pearl Seychelles Autism Association) have tended to focus on one disease only.
At the meeting on the 6th April, attendees agreed that the Association will not seek to antagonize care giving institutions but will work hand in hand with them to improve care quality.