November 2026 campaign

Screening and free consultations campaign

Agneby-Tiassa region, 2 to 8 November 2026. “Act early to prevent disability”.

World Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Day

For World Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Day, the Espérance's Hope association is running an awareness, screening and free neurosurgical consultation campaign in the Agneby-Tiassa region. This is the seventh edition of these activities.

The programme: informing communities about spina bifida and hydrocephalus, screening children with neurological abnormalities or malformations, offering free consultations to children and adults (low back pain, cervical arthrosis, headaches…) and training health staff in early diagnosis.

The programme

2 NovemberTaabo hospital (EPHD)
3 NovemberTiassalé hospital (EPHD)
4 NovemberSikensi hospital (EPHD)
6 and 7 NovemberAgboville regional hospital (EPHR)
8 NovemberDonation to the orphanage

Campaign poster: free consultations in November 2026

Daily reports

This page is updated as the campaign goes on: each day is published with its text and photos.

2 November

Taabo hospital (EPHD)

16 photos · 1 video

Activities started at 9 a.m. at the Taabo hospital (EPHD). When the delegation arrived, everything was already in place: a tent for the awareness session on spina bifida and hydrocephalus, three offices for free consultations with three doctors, a waiting hall, and a fourth office freed up in the afternoon for a fourth doctor.

The association's coordinator led the awareness session under the tent, together with the delegation's nurse.

The delegation included 4 doctors (2 neurosurgeons, including the association's President, and 2 neurosurgeons in training), 1 nurse and the coordinator.

Awareness session

Attentive audience during the awareness session

The audience and the team

The team and the audience under the tent

The team

Consultations

3 November

Tiassalé hospital (EPHD)

19 photos · 1 video · press article

The awareness, free medical consultation and health professional training campaign of the NGO Espérance's Hope took place on Tuesday 3 November 2026 at the Tiassalé hospital (EPHD). In all, about a hundred people were reached and seen. Two cases of hydrocephalus were diagnosed in children, out of a total of 7 children seen in consultation by the medical teams.

These days, under the patronage of the Minister of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Health Coverage, Pierre N'Gou Dimba, were led by Broalet Maman You Espérance, wife of Alia, president of the NGO Espérance's Hope, professor of neurosurgery and anatomy and head of the neurosurgery department at the Saint-Joseph Moscati Catholic Hospital in Yamoussoukro, and by Dr Williams Panan Bamba, neurosurgeon at the San Pedro regional hospital (EPHR), and in charge of organising the activities.

This initiative aims to strengthen awareness of spina bifida and hydrocephalus.

On arrival, the delegation was welcomed by the hospital's chief physician, Dr Yobouet Séraphin, in the absence of the director, Dr Eulalie Thes Dassoko.

In the press: Business & Actuality TV

Article by Clément EWOUEDJE, published on 4 November 2026 by Business & Actuality TV (in French; English translation). Reproduced with permission.

After a first stage in Taabo, the awareness, free medical consultation and training campaign of the NGO Espérance’s Hope continued on Tuesday 3 November 2026 in Tiassalé. This second stage notably made it possible to raise awareness among the population, to see seven children, including two cases of hydrocephalus, by the medical teams, and to build the capacity of some forty health professionals.

The second stage of this mission took place at the Tiassalé departmental public hospital (EPHD), led by Broalet Maman You Espérance, wife of Alia, president of the NGO Espérance’s Hope, professor of neurosurgery and anatomy and head of the neurosurgery department at the Saint-Joseph Moscati Catholic Hospital in Yamoussoukro.

Backed by the Minister of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Health Coverage, Pierre N’Gou Dimba, funded by the Agneby-Tiassa Regional Council and carried out in partnership with the NGO Espérance’s Hope, this initiative aims to strengthen awareness of spina bifida and hydrocephalus, to make specialist consultations easier to access, and to improve health professionals’ knowledge of these conditions.

On arrival, the delegation was welcomed by the hospital’s chief physician, Dr Yobouet Séraphin, in the absence of the director, Dr Eulalie Thes Dassoko. Several of the hospital’s practitioners, including specialists in radiology, surgery and cardiology, were also involved in the activities.

On the organisational side, Dr Williams Panan Bamba, in charge of organisation, also contributed to the preparation and smooth running of this stage of the campaign. The mission also included Attissou Marie Marguerite, a psychomotor therapist at the Don Orion hospital in Bonoua.

The medical assessment for the day shows seven children seen by the specialist teams. Among them, two cases of hydrocephalus were received. It should be noted that these children received medical consultations and were not part of the awareness sessions intended for the population.

Low back pain, commonly known as backache, was the main reason for consultation during this day. In total, the awareness and consultation activities reached about a hundred people, with specific medical care for the children seen by the teams.

In addition to the consultations and awareness sessions, a training course on spina bifida and hydrocephalus was held from 12 noon to 2 p.m. It brought together about forty health professionals, including doctors, nurses and midwives. The hospital’s chief physician took part in the whole session himself, which was followed by discussions and a question-and-answer session.

The day also included a visit by the departmental director of Health, Dr Gbalé Yavo Joël. Present from the morning, he was involved in the logistical preparations and followed the start of the consultations and awareness activities. His intervention notably helped bring the awareness facilities closer to the hospital entrance, making it easier to welcome and guide the public.

To close this stage, the delegation visited the hospital’s operating theatre. This sequence completed the discovery of the EPHD’s health infrastructure before the end of the mission in Tiassalé.

Activities ended at around 5 p.m. After a review of this second stage, the delegation set off for Sikensi, where the campaign was to continue on Wednesday 4 November 2026.

Through this initiative, Espérance’s Hope aims to contribute to a better understanding of spina bifida and hydrocephalus, two conditions that require particular attention in terms of prevention, early screening and medical care. After Taabo and Tiassalé, the campaign thus continues its rollout in several localities in Côte d’Ivoire, with the priorities of raising public awareness, access to specialist consultations and strengthening the capacity of health professionals.

Original article: TIASSALÉ : APRÈS TAABO, ESPÉRANCE’S HOPE POURSUIT SA CAMPAGNE CONTRE LE SPINA-BIFIDA ET L’HYDROCÉPHALIE (businessactuality.com)

Awareness session

Audience gathered under the tent in Tiassalé

Group photos

Three members of the delegation in front of the campaign poster

Group photo in front of the campaign poster

Group photo of the delegation and guests

Consultations

Consultation of a child in the hospital room

A participant photographing a consultation

Photos from the Business & Actuality TV article

Welcome screen of the Agneby-Tiassa 2026 hydrocephalus conference, 3 November 2026

Health professionals gathered during the training in Tiassalé

Four people in front of the campaign banner at the hospital entrance

In the press: Le Baromètre no. 266

Article from the newspaper Le Baromètre no. 266: “Espérance's Hope” steps up awareness (fight against spina bifida and hydrocephalus, Tiassalé stage)

4 November

Sikensi hospital (EPHD)

23 photos

3rd day of the campaign, Sikensi stage: we started around 11 a.m. with the visit of the prefectoral delegation, led by the Prefecture's Secretary General, Mrs RABBE, representing the Prefect of the Sikensi department, and the sub-prefects, in the presence of the Departmental Director of Health and the Director of the Sikensi General Hospital.

Consultations have started and are continuing.

Activity report: 4 November 2026, Sikensi

Addressee: Mr Clément

1. Travel and welcome

The team left Tiassalé the day before (3 November) and arrived in Sikensi in the evening.

On the morning of 4 November, it went to the activity site, the Sikensi General Hospital.

It was received by the Departmental Director of Health and by the hospital's Chief Physician. After the greetings, they showed the team around the facilities.

2. Facilities provided

Two rooms for consultations.
Two tents for welcoming patients and for awareness-raising.
A conference room for training health workers.

Patients were already waiting before the activity began.

3. Visit of the authorities and launch

Mrs Rabé Noël visited the team and toured the facilities with it. Her position remains to be confirmed: sub-prefect or secretary general of the prefecture.

Other local authorities were present, as well as traditional chiefs, who came to support the activity.

A ceremony officially launched the activity.

This support from the authorities was the highlight of the day.

4. Consultations and awareness-raising

The activity went very well. Consultations and awareness-raising started early in the morning.

About 100 patients were seen and informed, including a good part of the hospital staff.

Many children came, with many different conditions.

4 cases of hydrocephalus were detected, as well as other neurological conditions in children.

Patients who need further examinations, in particular a scan, received an examination slip. They were asked to go to the Agboville regional hospital (CHR) on Friday or Saturday to have the scan free of charge.

Difficulty: some patients said they had financial problems getting there.

5. Training of health staff

The training took place between noon and 2 p.m., during the lunch break, so as not to disrupt the usual service.

About 30 health workers attended (doctors, nurses, midwives), in the presence of the Chief Physician.

Participants were very interested and asked many questions, which shows that the subject matters to the professionals of Sikensi.

Part of it was practical: learning to measure head circumference. This simple check helps detect early an increase in head size, one of the key signs of hydrocephalus.

6. Points to complete

The exact names and positions of the authorities present (Departmental Director, Chief Physician, Mrs Rabé Noël and others). The coordinator noted them down and will send them tomorrow. The photos may also help identify the people.