YOG Dakar 2026: a health plan structured around 16 pillars
Senegal has put in place a health system structured around 16 pillars to prevent and manage the risks linked to the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games (YOG). The plan, tested through two simulation exercises in October, mobilizes several health structures and security forces, the Minister of Health and Public Hygiene, Ibrahima Sy, indicated on Thursday.
Coordinated by the Health Emergency Operations Center (COUS), in collaboration with the YOG Organizing Committee (YOGOC), the national SAMU, the security forces and technical and financial partners, the system provides for advanced medical centers in the three competition zones: Dakar, Diamniadio and Saly.
It also includes a polyclinic in the Olympic Village, a pediatric referral hospital in Diamniadio as well as medical evacuation circuits organized with the national SAMU.
The minister was speaking during a meeting with the regional director of the World Health Organization (WHO) for Africa, Dr Mohamed Yakub Janabi, on an official visit to Senegal to support health preparations for the Dakar 2026 YOG.
Ibrahima Sy specified that the national plan had been tested during a tabletop simulation exercise on October 15, then a full-scale exercise on October 24, with the participation of nearly 180 people. “The lessons learned made it possible to take corrective measures to the system,” he underlined.
At the same time, epidemiological surveillance is reinforced at competition sites, while health checks are carried out at Blaise Diagne International Airport (AIBD), particularly in a context marked by the risks linked to Ebola and diphtheria.
“Our system is in place, it has been tested and we remain vigilant,” assured the minister, reaffirming Senegal’s desire to guarantee the health security of the first Youth Olympic Games organized on the African continent.
He welcomed the support of the WHO and technical and financial partners, believing that the achievements of this mobilization could make a lasting contribution to strengthening the national health system.
The YOG Dakar 2026 is scheduled for October 31 to November 13.
