HEALTH

Ndianda is a village located 7 km from the commune of Joal. In times of health need, the population turned to traditional medicine, which today still has a few rare outbreaks in the surrounding villages.

In the early 1980s, the Catholic mission of Ndianda, led at the time by Italian Father Félix Colombo, set up a health center on the premises of the Ndianda church. With very limited resources, the health care assistant was able to provide consultations and primary care to the population at a cost of 200 FCFA for the co-payment. These premises were also used for vaccination sessions and prenatal consultations (cpn) offered by the Joal health district. In case of emergency, people went to Joal or Mbodiène for treatment or hospitalization. Most deliveries took place at home, with the help of grandmothers who acted as midwives. Sometimes, deliveries took place during evacuations to Joal, which were carried out in carts with a high risk of loss of life.

In 2003, with the support of the Association d'Aide au Développement Sanitaire et Social (ADESSE), the foundation stone for the long-awaited health post was laid, and construction was continued by the Solidarité Ndianda association. This health facility, located in the heart of Ndianda, has been operational since 2010. The Ndianda health post is run by a head nurse who lives in Ndianda. It comprises 5 treatment rooms, each with a bed. The staff includes a head nurse, a midwife, an assistant nurse, four health workers, a janitor and a cleaning technician.

The facility's main problem is the lack of logistics, particularly rolling stock for emergency evacuations to Joal. Added to this is the lack of premises for the maternity unit, which currently occupies those of the health services.

IADN supports the health sector in Ndianda and beyond.

In 2020, the medical emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led us to review our projects. Since 2020, IADN has been focusing on the construction and equipping of a multifunctional double sized classroom that will enable students to read books, learn new technology, and benefit from these tools to enhance their learning and improve academic achievement.

In 2021, the organization intervened in the village and assisted the commune of Ngueniene in emergency transportation of patients to more specialized health facilities. An ambulance was handed over to the Nguéniène town council and was allocated to Ndianda health post. Teamwork both upstream and downstream enabled us to make the best possible use of this donation, initially made by the Centre Hospitalier de Versailles to IADN. 

The latter then donated the equipment to the Nguéniène Town Hall, which in turn applied to the Senegalese administrative authorities (Joal Health District, Prefecture, Ministry of Health and Presidency of the Republic of Senegal) for customs exemption. 

Thanks to these combined actions, the ambulance arrived at its destination and is now transporting patients in need for more specilaized services.

This support in the health sector has enabled us to strengthen our capacity to transfer patients from the commune to specialized facilities, and to consolidate AIDN's actions in the health sector in a concrete and tangible way.