Foundation for a Healthier Senegal

Aims to improve health outcomes in rural Senegalese communities.

The Foundation for a Healthier Senegal (FOHSEN) is a grassroots nonprofit organization that works in five rural villages of Kaffrine, Senegal to improve maternal and child health outcomes. FOHSEN is a 501(c)3 non-profit incorporated in Mississippi. In Senegal’s rural communities, the maternal mortality rate is 390 deaths per 100,000 women while the infant mortality rate is 77 deaths per 1,000 children; Senegal’s rural infant mortality rate is more than 2.5 times higher than the global average according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Without stable healthcare infrastructure that supports maternal and reproductive services, disease prevention, and health literacy, access to quality health services will remain a dire challenge. FOHSEN addresses the needs of women, children, and their families by working alongside community members and local health officials to find sustainable solutions to their current health challenges. FOHSEN does this through training community health workers (CHWs) to provide pre-natal and antenatal checkups, diagnose reproductive infections, conduct health education classes on reproductive and sexual health and family planning, and monitor child development by providing regular check-ups. This is made possible through FOHSEN’s robust network of health professionals which includes over 30 doctors, nurses, midwives, and CHWs.