Gratitude for Mercy Ships’ work was publicly shared at the joint Third Congress of the Senegalese Society of Pediatric Surgery and the Ninth Congress of the African Society of Pediatric Surgery in Dakar last week.

Secretary General of the Ministry of Health and Social Action Professor Habib Ndiaye acknowledged the lack of pediatric surgeons in the country and thanked Mercy Ships for helping to tackle the very high demand for child orthopedic surgeries.

He said: “In terms of partnerships, I would like to highlight the considerable contribution made by the Mercy Ships program in meeting the very high demand with regards to orthopedic surgery.”

Around 300 participants from around Africa and Europe gathered for the event which aims to be a platform for discussions between specialists in pediatric surgery.

The event heard there are currently 38 pediatric surgeons in total employed in all regions of Senegal which has a population of more than 16,876,700 with around half of them children. One third of those children are estimated to be under five years of age.

Professor Ndiaye told surgeons present that the government is attaching great importance to the challenges faced and working hard to strengthen surgical care.