TİKA Supports the Health Infrastructure of Senegal

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) renovated and equipped the National Centre of Orthopedic Equipment (CNAO – Centre National d'Appareillage Orthopédique) in Dakar, Senegal.

The National Centre of Orthopedic Equipment (CNAO – Centre National d'Appareillage Orthopédique) in Dakar operates independently, despite being placed under the Ministry of Health and Social Action of Senegal. In 2018, TİKA first renovated and equipped the body mass index rehabilitation hall in the center, which has a prosthesis-orthotics production workshop, a physical therapy and rehabilitation department, and a department for the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy. The Agency also expanded the department for the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy, built a waiting room for patients, and organized a four-week training program on physical therapy and rehabilitation; neurological-based physical disabilities, especially cerebral palsy; and prosthetics and orthotics at Gülhane Training and Research Hospital, affiliated with the University of Health Sciences in Ankara, for three (3) physical therapy and orthopedics specialists working at the hospital.

As part of the project, the prosthesis-orthotics production workshop was renovated and equipped with Turkish-made machinery and equipment, all of which were supplied from Türkiye. Furthermore, specialists from Türkiye visited Senegal and provided applied training on rehabilitation and the use of equipment for specialists working at the center, which was equipped by the Agency.

It is estimated that 2,500 patients will benefit from the National Centre of Orthopedic Equipment in Dakar.

The opening ceremony held for the project was attended by Prof. Ahmet Kavas, the Republic of Türkiye’s Ambassador to Dakar; Bülent Korkmaz, Head of the Department of the Middle East and Africa at TİKA; Kenan Yiğit, TİKA’s Coordinator in Senegal; Merve Aşık Elsıkma, Director of Yunus Emre Institute in Dakar; Alphonso Thiaw, Private Secretary to the Minister of Health and Social Action of Senegal; Dr. Bineta Diabel Ba Mbacke, Director of the National Centre of Orthopedic Equipment in Dakar; and healthcare providers working at the hospital.