Senegal: When diplomacy and surgery go hand in hand

Terre des hommes, in cooperation with the Canton of Vaud University Hospital Centre (CHUV) and the University Hospital Centre (CHU) of Fann in Dakar, organised a mission for heart surgery from the 27th of April to the 4th of May 2012. In addition to treating patients, this mission was accompanied by an educational initiative and a meeting with the Minister of Health for Senegal.

Patients suffering from heart disease were able to be given the treatment adapted to their problems. No fewer than 83 children benefited from in-depth examinations and seven of them underwent successful surgery. This mission also enabled the follow-up of 11 patients who had undergone surgery in the last two missions to Senegal, plus 19 young patients operated on in France and Switzerland in previous years.

Each operation was a chance to improve the education of the local team of the Fann CHU on the subject of cardiology, before the daily surgical operations. This tuition was followed by an educational day with an academic session transmitted by videoconference to the Medical Faculty of St. Louis in Senegal, attended mainly by the medical executives of the Fann CHU.

The mission team was received by the Senegalese Minister of Health, Madame Seck. This meeting was an occasion to advocate for essential investments from the Senegalese government, for the support and development of the “Society for Thoracic and Cardio-Vascular Surgery” (SCTCV in French). The Minister showed her support for the project and promised to do her best to clear the required funding. In an interview with the Senegalese television, the Minister of Health expressed her great esteem for Tdh’s programme of specialised healthcare. This acknowledgement is also a part of the good Senegalese-Swiss relationship. Indeed the Attaché of the Swiss Embassy, Roland Viotti, praised the mission and its program of specialised treatment. The diplomat underlined the importance of its social impact and its contribution to the image of a solidary and generous Switzerland. “With your program, which distinguishes you clearly from all other NGOs or organisations, you are doing a large part of our diplomatic work”.