Dr. Marie-Antoinette Bacco

Dr. Marie-Antoinette Bacco is the senior internal medicine physician at Seychelles Hospital, the main public hospital in Victoria, Mahé, and the national referral facility for the Seychelles archipelago. The Seychelles faces a growing non-communicable disease burden driven by dietary change, rising obesity rates, and an aging population — challenges that make experienced internists like Dr. Bacco increasingly important in the national health system. She trained in France and returned to the Seychelles to contribute to the national health workforce, bringing a European medical training standard to the island's medical wards. Over 12 years at Seychelles Hospital, she has developed deep expertise in the management of diabetes, hypertension, thyroid disorders, and cardiovascular risk — the conditions most prevalent in the Seychellois patient population. She is trilingual in English, French, and Seychellois Creole, giving her natural rapport with patients from all communities and with the large population of French and European expatriates and tourists on the islands.

Dr. Bacco completed her MD at the University of Tours in France, where Seychellois students have historically pursued medical training through government scholarship programmes. She completed her specialist training in Internal Medicine at the Université de Bordeaux, gaining her Diplôme de Médecine Interne following several years of supervised residency training in the general medicine, endocrinology, and cardiology wards of Bordeaux's teaching hospitals. She has attended continuing medical education workshops in Mauritius and Réunion organised by the Indian Ocean Health Network on non-communicable disease management and diabetes care updates.

Dr. Bacco's clinical practice at Seychelles Hospital spans both inpatient general medicine and outpatient chronic disease management. Her primary clinical focus is the management of type 2 diabetes — a condition with high prevalence in the Seychellois population — including insulin initiation, management of diabetic complications including nephropathy and neuropathy, and the complex metabolic workup of patients with poorly controlled diabetes. She manages hypertension, including resistant hypertension and hypertension-associated end-organ damage. She has particular experience in thyroid disorders, including hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, and thyroid nodule assessment with ultrasound guidance. She manages heart failure with the drug therapies available in the Seychelles health system and coordinates referral to Mauritius or South Africa for patients requiring cardiac investigation beyond what is available locally.

Dr. Bacco has contributed to the Seychelles Ministry of Health's non-communicable disease surveillance programme, providing data on diabetes and hypertension control outcomes from Seychelles Hospital's chronic disease clinics. She has participated in Indian Ocean regional health assessments of diabetes prevalence and treatment outcomes coordinated through the Indian Ocean Health Network. Her clinical practice data has contributed to national strategy documents on NCD prevention and management in the Seychelles.

Seychelles Hospital is the primary medical resource for all residents and visitors on Mahé island, and Dr. Bacco regularly consults international patients — including tourists from Europe, Asia, and North America who develop acute or chronic disease-related problems during their stay. Her fluency in English and French makes her highly accessible to the majority of the Seychelles' international visitors. For tourists with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes or heart disease who need medication review or acute assessment while on the island, Dr. Bacco can provide timely internal medicine consultation. For conditions requiring specialist care not available in the Seychelles, she assists with referral and medical evacuation coordination.

Dr. Bacco has been recognised by the Seychelles Medical and Dental Council for her contribution to internal medicine services and to the development of chronic disease management programmes at Seychelles Hospital. The Ministry of Health has acknowledged her leadership in improving diabetes care quality indicators at the hospital. Colleagues and nursing staff recognise her for her systematic clinical approach and her ability to manage complex multi-system patients within the constraints of an island health system.