Dakar’s CCPC featured in “Monaco-Matin”

It took just 18 months since the principal block was first laid for the Centre Cardio-Pédiatrique Cuomo CCPC, a brand new state of the art equipped medical centre of 2500 m2, to become operational.

Medical and administrative staff are currently adjusting and preparing the centre to be able to perform open-heart surgery.

This health facility is a life-saving initiative for hundreds of children with precarious health conditions. Since last November, when the first pediatric medical consultations began, they have been closely monitored by the CCPC.

A French medical team of twelve, from Toulouse and under the direction of Dr. Gérard Babatasi, Cardiac Surgeon at the CHU of Caen, will assist their Senegalese counterparts during the month of January. The local surgeons have already benefitted from an intensive six-months training held in Vietnam last year.

Professor Alain Deloche and Mrs Elena Cuomo, President of the Cuomo Foundation, will be present in Dakar to attend and observe the first operations.

500 operations a year

This ambitious project plans to eventually carry out 500 open-heart surgeries annually, an objective to be gradually accomplished over the initial 5 years of operation. Children from neighboring countries such as Burkina Faso and Mali will likewise be treated at the centre.

This center is a good example of successful multiparty governance. Located within the CHNU Fann, the facility was actualised due to the joint commitment of the Senegalese Government and the French humanitarian association La Chaîne de l’Espoir. The substantial commitment and responsibility of the Cuomo Foundation to the project, with an essential contribution of 6 Million Euros, allowed its construction and equipment.

Currently, 30, 000 children are estimated to suffer from serious heart disorders in Senegal. Several thousands are on waiting lists, desperate for adequate medical treatments.