We are fearful of health facilities. The speed at which the virus is contracted, the numerous asymptomatic cases in Senegal, and the stigmatization of COVID-19 patients have been the reasons why people are not seeking health care and services. This was the case for me. At the end of July, when I was informed that I may have been in contact with someone who had a confirmed case of coronavirus, having to go to the hospital was my greatest source of anxiety. For me, it was a way of exposing myself to the virus more than anything else. In the end, I didn’t go and took the option of staying in quarantine at home. Like me, many men and women adopt this attitude every day.
The situation has been more worrisome for FP/RH care. In Senegal, the frequency of home births, recurrent missed antenatal visits, the overall decline in visits to health facilities for FP/RH care, and the disruption in the family planning supply chain have alerted the Department of Maternal and Child Health. “We immediately noticed that services were less frequent because of the fear surrounding COVID-19 and in part because of the perception of messages about staying home.” The same trend was observed in Burkina Faso. A survey revealed that a quarter of the women interviewed have had difficulty accessing family planning care since the beginning of the pandemic.
“In order to respond to rumors from the field, particularly regarding an increase in home births, and at the suggestion of the Department of Maternal and Child Health validated by experts, we organized supervision efforts. A contingency plan was then drawn up in collaboration with all technical and financial partners, following the six essential areas recommended by the WHO in the context of COVID-19.” As part of the implementation of this plan estimated at 500 million FCFA, “we developed a guide intended to help providers with structuring health services, making essential Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) care available, protecting staff, communication, and implementing new strategies based on lessons learned. The early use of registers and files has also made it possible to take stock of the potential needs of women and offer them solutions in complete safety.”
These different response strategies to the COVID-19 pandemic put in place by the Senegalese government have been reinforced by the actions of FP/RH partners such as Family Planning 2020, the Ouagadougou Partnership, as well as projects and programs in Senegal and throughout the region.