The Challenge
Senegal has made substantial progress in reducing infant and child mortality over the last decade, but more needs to be done to ensure that reductions in stunting continue and that maternal and neonatal mortality reductions are accelerated. Senegal has a persistently high rate of low birth weight (18 percent of newborns) and anemia affects as many as four out of five children under five. The fertility rate of 5.0 remains high with 16 percent of adolescents under 20 years of age having already given birth to at least one child. Geographic and socioeconomic inequalities in health service coverage and health outcomes are common.
The GFF Partnership Response
The GFF partnership supports the government’s commitment to increase the share of its health budget from 4 percent to 10 percent by 2022, strengthen public financial management in order to better track resources going to the health sector, improve budget and planning, and increase budget execution. The partnership also supports the implementation of the universal health insurance scheme by consolidating the community-based health insurance schemes while effectively exempting the poor. Partners financing Senegal’s investment case include the governments of France (AFD), Gavi, the Global Fund, GFF, JICA, UNICEF, World Bank, the United States (USAID), and various UN agencies. The GFF is also co-financing US$10 million to the World Bank Investing in Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health project to improve utilization of essential health and nutrition services.
Progress on the Investment Case
Senegal's investment case - Reduction of maternal, neonatal, child, adolescent and youth mortality - focuses on scaling up successful health system strengthening interventions including cash-transfer programs for pregnant women and community-based health insurance to expand service coverage in five prioritized regions. The GFF Secretariat is providing technical support on developing a Theory of Change to further inform implementation of the Investment Case and on strengthening results monitoring. The GFF has also promoted dialogue to engage the private sector and local authorities in the financing of health and it now is working with partners to a roadmap for strengthening this engagement.