The health budget in Senegal has tripled between 1980 and 2000, leading to the Senegalese people leading healthier and longer lives - the life expectancy at birth is approximately 55.34 years for men, 58.09 years for women, and 56.69 years for the entire population. Also, the prevalence rate of AIDS in Senegal is one of the lowest in Africa, at 0.9%. However, large disparities still exist in Senegal's health coverage, with 70% of doctors, and 80% of pharmacists and dentists, living in the nation's capital city, Dakar.
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As with the rest of Africa, the Senegalese people have long used - and continue to use - traditional medicines for health-related issues. For example, in Yoff, mental illnesses are treated with a traditional ceremony, the ndeup. However, these often elaborate methods have not been able to stop large epidemics and famines, which have decimated Senegal many times in the past. During the 19th century, France laid the foundations of a modern health care system in Senegal, if only to protect its own colonists. This health care system was particularly focussed on issues of hygiene. The advent of French West Africa (the AOF) in 1918 accompanied the ongoing development of an effective health care system in Senegal.
In 1905, the Indigenous Medical Assistance (AMI) initiative was created. It is charged with providing medical care to the population, as well as offering people an awareness of the importance of hygiene. The AMI scheme also promotes the vaccination and protection of mothers and children, in order to curb epidemics.
In June 2011, the United Nations Population Fund released a report on The State of the World's Midwifery. It contained new data on the midwifery workforce and policies relating to newborn and maternal mortality for 58 countries. The 2010 maternal mortality rate per 100,000 births for Senegal is 410. This is compared with 400.6 in 2008 and 541.7 in 1990. The under 5 mortality rate, per 1,000 births is 95 and the neonatal mortality as a percentage of under 5's mortality is 33. The aim of this report is to highlight ways in which the Millennium Development Goals can be achieved, particularly Goal 4 – Reduce child mortality and Goal 5 – improve maternal death. In Senegal the number of midwives per 1,000 live births is 2 and 1 in 46 shows us the lifetime risk of death for pregnant women. [1]
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