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Dr. Amadou Doucoure (left), director of the Mother and Child Health Division of the Ministry of Health in Senegal, and Nora Madrigal (middle), USAID/Senegal health office director, officially hand over five Universal Anesthesia Machines to Omar Mamadou Baldé (right), the Governor of Thiès, Senegal. Photo by Sidy Talla for IntraHealth International.
The USAID MOMENTUM Safe Surgery in Family Planning and Obstetrics project donated anesthesia machines to local partners to increase access to essential surgery for mothers.
On December 6, the USAID MOMENTUM Safe Surgery in Family Planning and Obstetrics project (MOMENTUM Safe Surgery) donated five Universal Anesthesia Machines to hospitals in Thiès, Senegal, valued at approximately $117,000. The machines, which can run without electricity or medical oxygen, will improve equitable access to high-quality obstetric and family planning surgeries–including routine and emergency cesarean deliveries and peripartum hysterectomy–for nearly 600,000 women of reproductive age in the region.
Evidence shows that skilled anesthesiologists and anesthesia equipment, like this Universal Anesthesia Machine (UAM), are instrumental for providing safe obstetric surgical care and reducing maternal deaths. The UAM is designed for use in facilities with unreliable electricity and medical oxygen. Photo by Sidy Talla for IntraHealth International.
During an official ceremony, Dr. Amadou Doucoure of the Ministry of Health in Senegal and Nora Madrigal of USAID/Senegal hand over five UAMs to Omar Mamadou Baldé, the governor of Thiès, and Dr. Mama Moussa Diaw, chief regional doctor. Photo by Sidy Talla for IntraHealth International.
The Governor of Thies, Omar Mamadou Baldé, calls for the redoubling of efforts to drastically reduce deaths of mothers and babies. “Beyond the government option, it is a moral obligation,” he says. Photo by Sidy Talla for IntraHealth International.
Dr. Mama Moussa Diaw speaks to journalists “By equipping health centers, we will help to reduce the distances pregnant women have to travel to have a cesarean section and also relieve congestion in certain hospitals, so that they can concentrate on other specialized services,"he says. Photo by Sidy Talla for IntraHealth International.
Staff of USAID MOMENTUM Senegal and the Ministry of Health pose with staff of the Regional Hospital of Thiès. The hospital received one of the UAMs. Photo by Sidy Talla for IntraHealth International.
Professor Ag Marietou Thiam COULIBALY, director of services at the Regional Hospital of Thiès, gives a tour of the facility. Photo by Sidy Talla for IntraHealth International.
Professor Ag Marietou Thiam COULIBALY shows the visitors the operating rooms where the UAM will be used. Photo by Sidy Talla for IntraHealth International.
Dr. Fatou Ndiaté Rachel Sarr Aw checks out equipment students will use in new labs to practice skills and competencies. Photo by Sidy Talla for IntraHealth International.
Ndeye Fatou SENE, a midwife at the Regional Thiès Hospital, displays the array of family planning methods she offers to clients during counseling services, including long-acting and permanent options. Photo by Sidy Talla for IntraHealth International.
The new UAMs will increase equitable access to safe surgery for women in Senegal and support the government's and local partners' efforts to improve the health of mothers and babies. Photo by Clement Tardif for IntraHealth International.
The Government of Senegal prioritizes maternal health in its National Health and Social Development Plan. After years of effort, it has significantly decreased maternal deaths (from 392 to 236 per 100,000 live births, from 2010 to 2017) and increased modern contraceptive use (from 16% of married women of reproductive age in 2012 to 25.5% in 2019).
Still, many mothers die during childbirth and 21.7% of women have an unmet need for voluntary family planning. According to the project’s situational analysis, availability of cesareans and hysterectomies for women in need is very low.
Over the past two years, USAID MOMENTUM Safe Surgery has supported Senegal’s Ministry of Health and Social Action to increase access to surgeries—particularly cesareans and childbirth-related hysterectomy, as well as obstetric fistula repair and long-acting and permanent family planning methods.
This global safe surgery project, which is part of the MOMENTUM suite of USAID projects, is implemented by a consortium of organizations led by EngenderHealth International. IntraHealth International implements the project in Senegal, focusing on Thiès, Dakar, and Diourbel—highly populated regions where 40% of Senegalese live.
USAID MOMENTUM Safe Surgery is equipping operating blocks at supported health facilities with materials they need. Our interventions are also addressing the shortage of skilled health workers that can support surgeries, including training emergency obstetrical and neonatal care anesthesiologists and doctors.
The new anesthesia machines will be placed in five of the seven operating blocks in health centers in the region. “In peripheral areas 15% of pregnancies are considered high risk for complications and 5% require a cesarean section. This donation makes it possible to reduce delays in treatment because the women will be taken care of on site with doctors trained for the blocks,” said Mama Moussa Diaw, the regional health director, during the official handover ceremony. Coverage of the donation appeared in at least 14 media outlets in Senegal, raising awareness of the increased access to essential surgery for mothers.
USAID MOMENTUM Safe Surgery is proud of the strong collaboration with all our local partners and thanks the Thiès Regional Health Directorate, the Directorate of Mother and Child Health, the Human Resources Department, the Direction of Planning, Research and Statistics; the universities of Thiès, Dakar, Saint Louis, and Ziguinchor; and health professional associations for their commitment to success of this project.