Visual health in Senegal is now somewhat more guaranteed. This has been verified by Viladecans during its visit to the municipality of Sédhiou, in the Casamansa region, where a new solidarity optician's shop will soon be set up with the collaboration of the Viladecans International Cooperation and Global Justice Master Plan. The Councillor for Cooperation, Ramón Espejo, and the Deputy Mayor for Social Services, Olga Morales, led the City Council's delegation.
This is the second optician's surgery set up in the African country with the involvement of our city, after the first one opened in Santa Yalla (Ziguinchor) in 2020. Like that one, this new optician's will be led by a platform of women previously trained in visual health problems, with the aim of guaranteeing a quality service and offering glasses at affordable prices.
In addition to the Viladecans International Cooperation Master Plan, the project has the participation of the Ètnia Barcelona Foundation, of recognised international prestige in visual health, and the support and accompaniment of the Catalan Cooperation Fund (Fons Català de Cooperació).
HEALTH, EQUALITY AND ECOLOGICAL TRANSITION, PRIORITIES OF THE PLAN
The Master Plan for Cooperation has established Senegal as a geographical priority in the development of solidarity actions related, above all, to health, an area that often suffers from a lack of resources and qualified personnel. This lack is particularly noticeable in the area of eye and visual health: some 200,000 Senegalese men and women are blind and more than 400,000 suffer from major eye disorders that can lead to blindness without adequate treatment.
Viladecans began to promote the eye health project in Senegal in 2016, the year in which the City Council travelled to Dar Salam, in the Tambacounda region, to rehabilitate and train health workers. During these missions, we also began to work with Ètnia Barcelona to rethink the viability and sustainability of the project and to respond to the needs of the citizens.