Thiès: SEN-CSU launches an enrollment camp to bring health coverage closer to the population

The Universal Health Coverage (SEN-CSU) program is intensifying its enrollment campaign across Senegal. After Dakar and Fatick, the teams from the Senegalese branch of SEN-CSU are in Thiès for a two-week outreach campaign.

The objective is clear: to go directly to meet the people in order to facilitate their access to the SEN-CSU insured card and strengthen adherence to the universal health coverage program.

According to El Hadji Souleymane Ndoye, head of the regional service of the Senegalese agency of SEN-CSU in Thiès, this initiative responds to a new direction aimed at breaking with essentially bureaucratic communication in order to favour a much more proactive approach and closer to the people.

"SEN-CSU went out to meet the people to facilitate their access to the universal health card," he explains.

For this campaign, the agency is working in collaboration with municipalities, opinion leaders, "Badianou Gox" as well as imams, who have been sensitized beforehand on the program.

500 enrollments on the first day

The mobilization already seems to be bearing fruit. On the very first day of the camp, Monday, 500 people were enrolled. This turnout suggests much larger targets for the two-week campaign.

"If we follow this path, we believe we could enlist more than 10,000 people from Thiès," says El Hadji Souleymane Ndoye.

These new recruits would add to the 60,000 people already enrolled in the Thiès region. According to the regional official, these figures demonstrate a better understanding of the program among the population.

The distinctive feature of these camps also lies in the possibility for the beneficiary to receive their SEN-CSU card immediately after enrollment, which constitutes an important advantage for users.

A national awareness tour

Present in Thiès as part of this campaign, Aly Fall, head of communications for the Senegalese agency of SEN-CSU, emphasizes that the operation is part of a national tour.

After Thiès, the teams are scheduled to visit Keur Massar, before continuing their tour to other regions of the country. "The aim of this tour is mass communication, raising awareness among the population about the importance of the universal health card," explains Aly Fall.

The communications manager is also pleased with the gradual adoption of the program by the population. He emphasizes the importance of continuing outreach efforts to explain the benefits of the insurance card.

According to him, having this card represents a double opportunity: it not only provides health insurance, but also facilitates access to care in Senegal's public health facilities.

With the card's portability, the agency is encouraging Senegalese people to obtain it to facilitate their access to healthcare, wherever they are in the national territory.

In Thiès, the SEN-CSU therefore intends to take advantage of these fifteen days to intensify enrollment, but also to make local awareness one of the pillars of universal health coverage in Senegal.