The U.S. Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is supporting the Government of Senegal’s efforts to decontaminate and disinfect treatment centers and households of COVID-19 positive cases. The USAID Medicines, Technologies and Pharmaceutical Services (MTaPS) activity, is working closely with the Ministry of Health and Social Action to support its Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures of the country’s COVID-19 response plan.

In August, at a cost of 20 million CFA, the MTaPS’s decontamination and disinfection drive helped reduce contamination in health facilities, health personnel, patients, and households of positive cases and the population. MTaPS also conducted supervision and monitoring in infection prevention and control at AIBD and LSS airports, ports and land borders.

MTaPS supports outbreak monitoring, control, and management, as well as IPC measures, including training for health care workers and relevant stakeholders. To date, MTaPS has trained 10 health professional trainers on infection prevention and control, and over 110 health professionals on standard precautions and hygeine procedures.

Since the outbreak, the MTaPS has been supporting the Comité National de Gestion des Epidémies (CNGE) and the Centre des Operations d’Urgence Sanitaire (COUS) to develop response tools according to international standards and to monitor the implementation of interventions.

USAID continues to support Senegal’s COVID-19 response through its health, economic growth, education, and democracy and governance activities. Since the outbreak, USAID has provided an additional 2.2 billion FCFA ($3.9 million) in new financial grants for the health sector and redirected more than 1.1 billion FCFA ($2 million) from other development sectors and health activities to respond to the pandemic in Senegal. Most recently, USAID programmed an additional 2 billion FCFA ($3.5 million) to expand current activities to mitigate the impact of  COVID-19 on small-holder farmers, and an additional 135 million FCFA ($245,000) to improve water, sanitation and hygiene.