Methods
Training
Medico-surgical
and paramedical training, both general and specialised
Improvements
medical and surgical equipment
.
Updating
infrastructure
.
Casamance Missions
Objectives
- Create a training centre for laparoscopic surgery
- Develop a medical-surgical simulation and training centre
- Anaesthetic training
- Paramedical training in operating theatre management
Resources
- Surgical masterclass with surgical procedures
- Surgical, anaesthetic and operating theatre equipment
- Equipment for a simulation centre
- Infrastructure improvements
- Theoretical and practical courses
- Facilitating grants and internships abroad
- Partnerships with other development players.
Why Laparoscopy ?
Laparoscopic surgery is establishing itself worldwide as an effective means of simplifying the post-operative period and reducing the length of hospital stays. The period of immobilisation following pain is significantly reduced. This last point is particularly important in regions where the family’s economic resources often depend on adults producing, in a variety of very short circuits, the necessities of daily life. Although the cost of the equipment is higher for laparoscopic surgery, requiring a specific learning curve and increasing the operating time at the start of practice, it has been shown that the overall economic cost for public hospitals and individuals is clearly in favour of this technique.
Objectifs
- Anatomy and cytology department opens in Ziguinchor
This will be the only pathological anatomy laboratory in the south of the country, and the 3rd in this field outside Dakar. - Developing a teleconsultation platform
Resources
- Equipping a pathological diagnostics centre
- Setting up inter-institutional collaboration
Description
No histological diagnosis (microscopic examination) is available in Casamance hospitals, even though 2 pathologists are on duty at the Hôpital de la Paix. Samples taken from patients are sent to Dakar, with diagnostic and therapeutic delays of several months, which is particularly disastrous in the case of cancerous pathologies.
Anatomical cytopathology plays a central role in medical, surgical and forensic practice.
These goals are :
- Diagnosis
Anatomo-clinical approach to diagnosis
In cancer pathology, the diagnosis can only be made by histological examination. - Prognosis
Specify the prognosis of the conditions observed
particularly in the field of cancer pathology. - Monitoring
To assess the effect of treatments on given lesions
anatomo-cytopathological examinations are repeated during treatment to assess whether lesions have disappeared, persisted or worsened. - Research
Understanding the causes and intimate mechanisms of lesion processes,
and therefore diseases, as part of scientific research. - Epidemiology
secondary prevention, tumour registry, etc.
Objectif
- Ultrasound training for midwives
- Sharing knowledge in laparoscopic surgery and senology
Resources
- Ultrasound training workshops
- Surgical workshops
- Equipment donations
- Teleconsultation platform
Description
Ultrasound scans during pregnancy and childbirth are an essential tool for the early detection of childbirth complications, which are potentially fatal for both mother and foetus. The Senegalese Ministry of Health recommends two obstetric ultrasounds during pregnancy.
Prenatal diagnosis is used to detect pregnancies at risk of complications during childbirth. Their detection enables pregnant women to reach a hospital where caesarean sections are performed before term (in Casamance, for the moment, only in Ziguinchor), thereby reducing both foetal and maternal mortality.
Objectif
- Specific training (scanner and ultrasound)
- Teleconsultations
Resources
- Training workshops
- Donation of equipment
Description
Radiology is expanding in this region. The acquisition of new equipment (scanner, irm) requires ongoing training for users.
The donation of additional ultrasound scanners will increase access to this front-line diagnostic modality.

Objectif
- Creation of a paediatric surgery unit in Casamance
Resources
- Advocacy and networking
Description
Paediatric surgery is carried out at the Ziguinchor regional hospital. There is no dedicated paediatric surgical unit in the whole of Casamance, and children are hospitalised in the same rooms as adults. There are no nurses specialising in paediatric surgery. What’s more, this speciality does not exist in the two countries surrounding Casamance, Guinea Bissau and Gambia, making Ziguinchor a centre for the surgical treatment of children.
Objectif
- Equipping and relocating ENT care
- Training
Resources
- Donations of equipment
- Training conferences
Description
A major donation of ENT equipment enabled us to open delocalised ENT consultations in two towns in the region, Oussouye and Bignona.
In December 2023, Dr Karen Masterson, Dr Didier Quinodoz and Dr Antoine de Courtis played an active part in the annual conference of the Senegalese ENT Association at Cap Skirring.
Context

The Casamance region is located in the south of Senegal, bordered to the north by Gambia and to the south by Guinea-Bissau. Casamance has a population of around 2 million. The area was the seat of political instability between 1982 and 2004, with independence aspirations. In 2016, the area was declared safe by the French authorities.
The health system in the two neighbouring countries (Gambia and Guinea-Bissau) is weak, and for many specialist treatments, patients come to Senegal, particularly Ziguinchor, for treatment.
As in the rest of Senegal and most of West Africa, there is little or no social security. State funding is limited to certain procedures, such as access to caesarean sections and antenatal care, and is often not applied.
There are few specialists and the quality of services is highly variable. Some hospitals are well-equipped without human resources, while in others qualified staff cannot work because of a lack of equipment.
Association Partenaires Santé Chirurgie
Account number: 16-383011-2
IBAN: CH50 0900 0000 1638 3011 2
BIC: POFICHBEXXX
Thank you for your Support !
CHE-496.811.639
CH-ID CH-660-1174024-0
25 rue de Bourgogne
1203 Geneva - Switzerland
info@associationpsc.ch