Context

Demographic characteristics

The predominant religion of Senegal is Islam, with 97% of the population identifying as Muslim and about 3% as Christian. There are several ethnic groups in Senegal, with many languages spoken, the most widely used being Wolof. French is used in administrative settings and in official government affairs.

Table 1: Demographic Characteristics from World Bank

The population of Senegal has maintained a relatively consistent age-structure in recent decades, as shown in Figure 32.

Economic progress and urbanization have translated to enhanced infrastructure at the household level in Senegal. Households with an improved water source have increased from 52% in 1992 to 86% in 2019.   Access to improved sanitation facilities has also dramatically improved, rising from 31.4% in 1992 to 75.9% in 2019. Access to technical infrastructure has also improved, with 70.3% of homes having electricity and 97% having a mobile phone in 2019.

Women’s empowerment

In recent decades, women in Senegal have become more educated, tended to marry later, and have become more active in the country’s workforce. The percentage of women with secondary education or higher increased from 9.9% in 1992 to 31.6% by 2019. The literacy rate among women similarly improved from 34.6% to 47.4% from 2005 to 2019. As women increasingly attended school, the percentage of girls who married before age 15 dropped from 13.2% in 1992 to 4.2% in 2019.

Other public health challenges

Although malaria is endemic in Senegal, the incidence of malaria has fallen sharply in recent decades and remained at a relatively low level. In 2000, there were 306.2 cases per 1,000 people at risk, compared with 49.9 in 2020. The prevalence of HIV has also been declining since its peak in the mid-2000s and in 2020, the prevalence was estimated at 0.3%, which is lower than most West African peer countries. The threat of climate change and desertification, especially in the northern regions, may pose the most substantial public health challenge in Senegal. The threat of environmental disruption is a substantial risk to the nutritional health of many in affected areas, including mothers and newborns.

Development Assistance for Health

The amount of Development Assistance for Health funds for reproductive and maternal health have grown substantially in Senegal, from an estimated US$10 million in 2000 to US$29 million in 2018. Development Assistance for Health for child and newborn health has also grown dramatically over this time span, increasing from US$5.5 million to US$39 million. Funding for each of these substantially increased in the last decade in particular, reflecting the donor focus on these components of the public health system.