Senegal

While Senegal is a stable country, 46.7% of its 16 million inhabitants live below the poverty line. Furthermore, insufficient resources are made available for healthcare in the country. This is one of the reasons why the rate of TB in Senegal is 14 times higher than in Belgium. While leprosy is no longer considered a public health problem in Senegal, the disease is still prevalent.

Our impact in 2025

Educational farm for the reintegration of former leprosy patients

Former leprosy patients often have difficulty finding jobs due to physical limitations resulting from the disease, or because of stigmatisation. To help former patients to reintegrate into society after treatment, Masse Mbaye of the local Chaulmoogra NGO set up an educational farm in Mbodiène (Mbour, Thiès region) in 2017. Former leprosy patients and their families are trained in modern organic farming there. Damien Foundation contributes locally to an irrigation project, the creation of a pond for fish farming, training for beneficiaries, and more.

This social project ensures that former patients become self-reliant once more through the sale of agricultural products. They gain confidence and are able to become fully-fledged members of society once more.

Aid for rehabilitation villages

A national law from 1976 prescribes that leprosy patients and their families must be isolated from the rest of the population in order to prevent infection. Because of this, Senegal still has nine ‘rehabilitation villages’ (villages de reclassement social) today, where (former) leprosy patients and their families are forced to live together. They accommodate a total of around 14,000 people, of whom 615 are leprosy patients. These villages are not on any map and neither do they have a social charter. The law, which is still in force, is highly discriminatory towards patients and their families. For example, residents are not allowed to purchase their own plot of land. The stigmatisation of the inhabitants of rehabilitation villages and their children is staggering.

The villages are home to many older leprosy patients who bear severe scarring from their disease. Many have few possessions and live in dilapidated buildings. Damien Foundation provides aid to six of the nine rehabilitation villages in Senegal. The teams trace new patients and provide free treatment and follow-up care. They also help the occupants in starting up income-generating activities, such as agriculture or cattle farming. Recently, Damien Foundation has been involved in the renovation of a number of derelict buildings in the leper village in the region of Kaolack.