Chaîne de l’Espoir promotes inter-African cooperation to improve access to healthcare for children in West Africa

As part of La Chaîne de l’Espoir’s support for South-South cooperation in West Africa, 6 young patients from Togo, Burkina Faso and Gambia, suffering from complex heart diseases that are still impossible to treat in their own countries, are expected in Dakar. The 3 children from Burkina Faso, aged 11, 12 and 14, will be the first to arrive in Dakar on May 28. Those from Togo and Gambia will arrive the following days.

All will be cared for by teams from the Centre Cuomo for medical care and La Chaîne de l’Espoir for reception and follow-up. They will each be accompanied by a parent, and will stay at the Pavillon des Enfants for the duration of their treatment.
South-South cooperation in West Africa is one of the priority strategies developed by La Chaîne de l’Espoir to promote access to healthcare for impoverished populations, support local medical teams through training and skills transfer, and encourage exchanges between African countries.

This model of child transfers to the CCPC, initiated in 2019, has opened up new prospects for referring physicians, who until now had no choice but to transfer their little patients to France or Europe at very high cost, with restrictive administrative formalities and therefore a limited number of children. In 2022, 26 children from 5 countries in the sub-region benefited from this program.

La Chaîne de l’Espoir provides full funding for these services, which include transport, accommodation and meals at the Pavillon des Enfants, as well as medical and surgical care. To achieve this, La Chaine de l’Espoir receives financial and operational support from private sponsors.

Built by La Chaîne de l’Espoir with funding from the Engie Foundation and opened in 2017, the Pavillon is a true home away from home located near the CCPC.

It provides a response to the needs of children with heart disease whose families live in areas far from the capital or come from neighboring countries. It’s a real, safe place to live, giving hope to families who are far from everything. The children who stay there are supervised by attentive staff.

La Chaîne de l’Espoir plans to develop educational activities for the well-being of the children with local players who would like to invest alongside it. At present, the Senegalese association L’école à l’hôpital is involved once a week, and could extend its activities.

Built by La Chaîne de l’Espoir with funding from the Cuomo Foundation, this center equipped to international standards and opened in November 2016, is a reference and training center for Senegal and neighboring countries. It offers medical and social care for impoverished families in socio-economic situations too fragile to finance such an operation.