Solthis Therapeutic Solidarity and Initiatives for Health

SENEGALSTRENGTHENING SYSTEMS AND HEALTH SERVICESPromoting One health

Addressing the unique health determinants of people, animals and the environment for an agro-ecological transition and better health for all

Context

As the recent Covid-19 pandemic has confirmed, human health determinants are more than ever linked to animal and environmental health issues, both in the field of infectious and emerging diseases and through exposure to various chemical substances. To reduce these risks and be effective in a sustainable manner, we must work at the interface of these fields and propose innovative solutions. This is the ambition of the “One Health” approach: to better understand these interactions, to put in place the capacities to identify, prevent and respond to these emerging issues in order to contribute to the resilience of populations and systems to these challenges.

The Thiellal project is part of this approach and will be implemented in Senegal, in the town of Vélingara (Kolda region) and 4 communes of its department, an area with a diversity of ecosystems, agricultural and pastoral systems, and a diversity of production recognised as being highly consumptive of chemical inputs. Indeed, the department of Vélingara is bordered to the north by the Gambia and to the south by the two Guineas. This border location and the presence of the international market of Diaobé, makes it a territory of high population, animal and chemical product circulation and as such makes it particularly vulnerable in terms of health.

Key project information

General objective

Using a multidisciplinary approach, the Thiellal project aims to contribute to the empowerment of communities and stakeholders in human, animal and environmental health to enable them to identify and act on One Health determinants at the territorial level with a view to an agro-ecological transition and better health for populations, animals and the environment.

The project puts forward a participatory and integrative approach involving a wide range of local stakeholders from different sectors (agriculture, farming, human and animal medicine, environment) on a territorial scale to enable the emergence, prioritisation and sustainable treatment of community health issues.

The project is based on Senegal’s experience in the area of “One Health” on zoonoses and targets dimensions that are still absent from the strategies, around the consideration of the use of “chemical products”, including pesticides and antibiotics, issues that the region is facing.

Activities and expected results

•  A shared vision of the problems and issues related to the use of chemicals is built within the communities and their representatives.
  Frameworks for consultation and action on a single health issue, involving multiple stakeholders and favouring equal representation of men and women, are set up or revitalised at the different levels of the territory (community, municipal, departmental).
• The capacities of professional actors (decentralised services, human and animal health professionals and agricultural advisors, community relays and traditional practitioners) and territorial collectives (community relay associations, farming aids, environmental protection, etc.) are strengthened and they implement endogenous actions aimed at protecting the health of populations (human and animal) and their environment.
• Farmers, stockbreeders and consumers are made aware of the risks associated with the use of chemical products and experiment with practices to reduce them.
• The results obtained are evaluated, capitalised on and disseminated to stakeholders in collaboration with the research players in order to improve their health management at the various territorial levels (community, municipal, departmental and national).

Discover our video (in french)

https://vimeo.com/846205000?share=copy

Download the project brochure in pdf

More about the Thiellal project with the NGO AVSF