Health Needs Assessment for the City of Ségou, Mali

In 2007, the Earth Institute at Columbia University selected Ségou, the capital city of Ségou region in Mali, to become one of what were then seven Millennium Cities. This designation has galvanized local and international parties to devise sustainable strategies aimed at reducing poverty and supporting economic development. The city of Ségou is actively working towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015: reducing child mortality (MDG 4); improving maternal health (MDG 5); and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases (MDG 6). This needs assessment finds that Ségou has made progress in achieving these Goals. Noteworthy achievements made by Urban Ségou include: providing free antenatal care to all pregnant women; the successful implementation of an immunization campaign for children; and low HIV prevalence rates, due in part to effective voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) at all health facility levels in Ségou