The Expat Healthcare and Arrival Guide to Senegal
By Dr. Bassirou Aïdara, MD
By Dr. Bassirou Aïdara — everything you need to know about healthcare, entry requirements, vaccinations, insurance, and where to find trusted medical care in Dakar and beyond.
Instant digital download once payment is confirmed
What’s inside
A look inside the guide
Four parts, thirty-three pages of physician-written guidance — from your first planning checklist to your first weeks in Dakar.
Before you arrive
Everything you need to prepare for a safe, healthy and smooth arrival in Senegal.
- Start with your household needs6
- Your passport and visa7
- What to show when you land8
- Bringing medicines, and staying longer9
- Your travel-health appointment10
- Yellow fever and malaria11
- Your medical records and medicines12
Finding care in Dakar
A guide to the healthcare system in Dakar, including costs, services, and where to find trusted medical care.
- How healthcare works in Dakar14
- What care costs15
- Everyday care and home visits16
- Children and pregnancy17
- Dental and eye care18
- Specialists19
- Vaccinations, labs and imaging20
- Hospitals and urgent care21
Paying for care
Understand your options, compare costs, and choose the best way to access care in Senegal.
- Understanding health insurance23
- Insurance options to look at24
- Questions to ask every insurer25
- Insurance or paying directly?26
- Where the comparison changes27
When you arrive
Practical guidance for your first days and weeks in Senegal to keep you and your family healthy and prepared.
- In an emergency29
- Your first weeks30
- Speaking with the doctor in French31
- Your household worksheet32
Why this guide is different
Local knowledge, written for the decisions you're about to make
Written by a physician who practises here
Not a travel writer's summary. The guidance comes from clinical practice in Senegal — how care is organised, who to see first, and what to ask for.
Local costs, in the currency you'll be quoted
Published price ranges for consultations, labs, imaging and hospital care, so you can plan a realistic budget before you land.
A directory of real places
Clinics, hospitals, labs, dentists, opticians and specialists — with a note on what each one is good for, not just an address.
Decisions, not just information
Checklists, comparison tables and a household worksheet you fill in, so the guide ends with a plan rather than a reading list.
Who it's for
Read by people arriving for the first time — and by those who've been here for years
Relocating families
You're moving for work or a new chapter and want healthcare settled before the boxes arrive.
The diaspora coming home
You're returning to Senegal, or caring for parents here while you live abroad.
Long-stay visitors
You're staying for months rather than days and want your own doctor, dentist and pharmacy.
Students and new postings
A first assignment, scholarship or NGO posting — with very little time to research.
Anyone comparing insurance
You need to weigh cover against paying directly, with real price ranges to work from.
Families with young children
You want paediatric, vaccination and emergency answers before you actually need them.
From planning to feeling at home
What you'll work through, in the order it happens
Part 1 · pages 6–12
Before you move
- Household needs checklist, started early
- Passport, visa and what to show on arrival
- Travel-health appointment and vaccinations
- Medical records and medicines to carry
Part 2 · pages 14–21
Your landing week
- How healthcare works here, and where to start
- What care costs, with published price ranges
- Nearest hospital and urgent-care options
Part 3 · pages 23–27
Your first two weeks
- Insurance versus paying directly, with worked examples
- Questions to ask every insurer before you commit
- Choosing an everyday doctor and dentist
Part 4 · pages 29–32
Your first month
- Your emergency plan, written down and shared
- French phrases for the consultation room
- Household health worksheet, completed
By the last page
You'll have finished the work, not just read about it
The guide is built to be used. Each part ends with something you can act on that week — so by the time you close it, the planning is mostly done.
- A household health plan for your first month, written down
- Your vaccination and document checklist, ready to pack
- A shortlist of clinics and specialists that fit your needs and budget
- A realistic view of what care costs before you commit to anything
- Two or three insurance options worth comparing — and the questions to ask
- An emergency plan, plus the French phrases to use when it matters
Written in Dakar
A physician's answer to the questions we're asked every week
The same questions come up again and again: which vaccinations, what a consultation should cost, whether insurance is worth it, and who to call when something goes wrong. This guide puts the answers in one place, written from practice in Senegal rather than research from a distance.
If you'd rather not work through it alone, the concierge team can apply it to your move directly — starting with a consultation.
Everything in one guide
- Entry requirements: passport, visa, and documents
- Recommended and required vaccinations
- Yellow fever and malaria guidance
- How healthcare works in Dakar
- What care costs (published price ranges)
- Directory: doctors, clinics, hospitals, and specialists
- Children, pregnancy, dental and eye care
- Understanding health insurance and comparing options
- Insurance vs. paying directly, with worked examples
- What to do in an emergency
- Your first weeks: practical checklists
- Key French medical phrases
- Household planning worksheet
Buy Digital Guide
Instant access after payment — you’ll be taken to a secure checkout page.
Payment is completed on a secure payment page — card and other methods where available. Your name and email are collected there, and your download is delivered right away.
Want more hands-on support?
Beyond the guide, Aïdara Health offers navigation packages to help you apply it to your own move.
Before You Move
A 45-minute navigation consultation, the digital guide, and a written action plan.
Request a consultationArrival Support
Consultation plus 30 days of defined navigation support: up to five inquiries and two appointment-coordination requests.
Request a consultationDraft prices, subject to change. Clinical services, medicines, tests, transport, insurance and other third-party costs are charged separately. Aïdara Health is not an emergency service.
Guide questions