Senegal: Health and Pollution Action Plan

The Health and Pollution Action Plan (HPAP) is a pollution analysis and prioritization process designed to assist governments of low- and middle-income countries to develop and implement solutions to priority pollution challenges. The goal of each HPAP is to establish pollution as a priority for action within national agencies and development plans, and to define and advance interventions to reduce pollution exposures and related illnesses

A preliminary meeting was held in Senegal in June 2019 to form a Health and Pollution Action Plan (HPAP) working group. The working group consists of representatives from seven ministries (Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Mines, Ministry of Urban Affairs, Ministry of Housing and Public Health). The role of the working group was to oversee and guide the planning process for HPAP in collaboration with the Pure Earth team. In total, 17 individuals from seven government agencies and two CSOs (Civil Society Organizations) attended the June 2019 meeting.

A formal HPAP Inception Meeting was held in November 2019 in Dakar and was co-hosted by the Ministry of the Environment (MoE). The meeting was well attended, with a total of 32 participants, including 12 women and 20 government officials.

On March 10, 2020,  a meeting with the HPAP working group was held to reach consensus on the three types of pollution prioritized by the working group. It was agreed that the HPAP will focus on: heavy metals (mercury, cyanide and lead), air pollution (indoor and outdoor), and pesticides.

The HPAP working group will continue to meet and focus on the elaboration of the HPAP for Senegal.