The health budget in Senegal has tripled between 1980 and 2000, leading to the Senegalese people leading healthier and longer lives - the life expectancy at birth is approximately 55.34 years for men, 58.09 years for women, and 56.69 years for the entire population.

Also, the prevalance rate of AIDS in Senegal is one of the lowest in Africa, at 0.9%. However, large disparities still exist in Senegal's health coverage, with 70% of doctors, and 80% of pharmacists and dentists, living in the nation's capital city, Dakar.

As with the rest of Africa, the Senegalese people have long used - and continue to use - traditonal medicines for health-related issues. For example, in Yoff, mental illnesses are treated with a traditional ceremony, the ndeup. However, these often elaborate methods have not been able to stop large epidemics and famines, which have decimated Senegal many times in the past.

During the 19th century, France laid the foundations of a modern health care system in Senegal, if only to protect its own colonists. This health care system was particularly focussed on issues of hygiene. The advent of French West Africa (the AOF) in 1918 accompanied the ongoing development of an effective health care system in Senegal.

In 1905, the Indigenous Medical Assistance (AMI) initiative was created. It is charged with providing medical care to the population, as well as offering people an awareness of the importance of hygiene. The AMI scheme also promotes the vaccination and protection of mothers and children, in order to curb epidemics.