* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
By Buya Jammeh
In the outlying community of Touba Dialaw, which has barely been touched by the Senegalese government’s improvements in health care, four children have been dying at birth every day due to a lack of facilities.
This grim statistic prompted two German charities, Infa International Familien Hilfe and Apotheker Helfen, a pharmacists’ organization, to launch a 50,000-euro ($65,000) project in the community to improve access to maternal health.
The maternity unit in Touba Dialaw, located in the rural community of Yene, some 45 kilometres from Dakar, consists of a delivery room, rest room, toilets, offices, a pharmacy and living accommodation for three nurses.
Michaela Muller; from the German embassy in Dakar, underlined her government’s willingness to collaborate with the necessary stakeholders to enhance the health needs of women and children in rural communities.
Dr Gerhard Gensthaler, for the pharmacists’ group, said it aimed to help the sick and poor around the world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, adding that the importance of good maternity care could not be over-emphasized.
He revealed that his organisation planned to invest a further 15,000 euros to buy equipment and drugs in order for the maternity unit to become fully operational.
For his part Gorgui Ciss, chairman of the rural community of Yene, commended stakeholders for making the project a success, and underlined the significance of this type of development aid.
‘The funders and their partners have done their quota and I will also collaborate with other stakeholders at the community level to ensure the smooth running and proper sustainability of the facility,’’ he said.
Mactar Sonko, one of the funding partners of the project, announced that a group of young people in the community has been given the responsibility of supervising the daily activities in the clinic, adding that many projects in Senegal failed due to a lack of proper management and oversight.
He called on the women in the community to take ownership of the new facility.
