[Oral benefits for the elderly: results of a one-year implementation of the "Sesame" plan in Senegal]

Odontostomatol Trop. 2010 Mar;33(129):36-42.
[Article in French]

Abstract

Among the 650,000 persons aged 60 and over in Senegal, only 30% were receiving social security coverage, divided between the Senegalese Retirement Providence Institute and the National Retirement Fund. To fill the social demand, the government has put in place since 1 September 2006 a plan called "Sesame" which gives people aged 60 and older, free access to certain health services provided in public health. The implementation of this plan creates a lot of comments in the health community. The objectives of this study were to describe the dental benefits offered and to identify the difficulties perceived and experienced by the service provider after one year the "sesame" plan was implemented in Ouakam Health Center dental office, benchmark place of Gerontology in the Dakar North health district in Senegal. The study included two components: quantitative and qualitative terms, respectively, consisting of a retrospective study from sheets review and an interview with the health center service provider. The beneficiaries were a total of 42, mean age 68 years, including 66.7% men. Just over a third (35.7%) resided outside Ouakam. Almost 4/5 of the beneficiaries have suffered dental extractions on 1 to 10 teeth per beneficiary. The proportions of people receiving dentine treatment and curetage were respectively 4.8% and 2.4%. Qualitative data showed that the implementation of the plan was not shared between providers and beneficiaries. The "Sesame" plan is a commendable initiative to encourage and improve.

Publication types

  • English Abstract

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Dental Care for Aged / organization & administration*
  • Dental Scaling
  • Female
  • Health Plan Implementation
  • Humans
  • Interviews as Topic
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • National Health Programs / economics
  • National Health Programs / organization & administration*
  • Periodontal Diseases / therapy
  • Radiography, Dental
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Root Canal Therapy
  • Root Caries / therapy
  • Senegal
  • Tooth Extraction