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First Lady tours hospital facilities

Feb 27, 2015, 10:19 AM

The Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) in Banjul yesterday received First Lady Zainab Yahya Jammeh, as part of the Gambia’s Golden Jubilee independence anniversary.

The first lady was later taken on a conducted tour of the obstetrics and gynecology department, the main foyer of the maternity unit, labour ward, maternity theatre, post-natal ground floor, antenatal ground floor, post-natal top floor, Gamtel ward and the private block.

The visit was undertaken to see the patients in different wards, and also to get first-hand information on some of the work going on within the hospital, as well as to hear from the hospital management the challenges they are faced with and how best to overcome them.

At the end of the tour, the first lady thanked the chief medical director and the board, and asked them keep up the good work, and assured them of her support towards the hospital.

Dr Muhammed Ammar Al-Jafari, chief medical director at the EFSTH, said “the hospital gets a lot of support from the First Lady and Operation Save the Children Foundation”.

He disclosed that they have a project of two phases, supported and sponsored by the First Lady and the “Operation Save a Children.”

The main challenge of the hospital is medical consumables for the patients, he said.

The Minister for Basic and Secondary Education, Fatou Lamin Faye, who is overseeing the Health ministry, and accompanied the first lady on the tour, told reporters that Mrs Zainab Jammeh was “very passionate” about what she was doing, and interacted with the patients.

“The first lady is concerned about the well-being and the general health condition of everyone in this country,” she said.

Minister Faye added that the first lady was also impressed by the facility as the staff are doing their best under the leadership of the chief medical director.

The hospital was being given some support by the first lady, the minister said, adding that they had managed to rehabilitate the maternity ward and related facilities at the maternity wing.

“All hands should be on deck to support the hospital, because at the end of the day our family members would come to the hospital,” she said.

Makie Taal, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Heath, said the tour was very successful as “the hospital is well adopted by the first lady”, who had done many positive things for the hospital, by donating lot of cash and equipment to it, “which is a great boost for the hospital staff and patients”.