[Health Statistics in Senegal: between political stakes and role playing]

Many countries have developed disease surveillance systems to deal with epidemics, but although health information systems have existed for more than two decades, constraints and biases in data collection limit the relevance of policy decisions and strategies in the field of health, as priority has been given to education and health in developing countries. Donor support has led to the development of systems for the production of statistics, designed, among other things, to more clearly target interventions in terms of educational objectives, action and credibility and enable health systems to continue to benefit from external funding.

We used a classical anthropology approach based on observations and in-depth interviews with local and national health system actors.

The aim of this article is to analyse the real effects of the production of health statistics in health care systems and to determine the relevance of these figures in the context in which they apply.

Health priorities defined by international organizations and technical and financial partners focus on diseases considered to be ?priorities? to the detriment of neglected diseases, which are perceived as being more important at the local level due to their impact on the already limited health systems. We describe how health actors within healthcare structures adjust and adapt to public health requirements.