ROC’s latest boost to the health sector

The recent donation of US$226, 500 to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare would be of immense contribution to the sector.

This financial boost to the health sector is the latest in a series of regular grants to the Gambia government by Taiwan.

The money is meant for the renovation of the first phase of Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital (RVTH) in Banjul, and to support the sponsorship of seven Gambian doctors studying in Ghana.

We must emphasize that the money donated is intended for a good purpose, and those medical students whose training is being funded from it must also make the best use of the opportunity by working hard in Ghana, and come back to serve the country.

Renovating the country’s main referral hospital, as well as training seven doctors abroad would help in no small measure in providing quality health service delivery to the citizens of this country.

The renovation would, no doubt, give the hospital a facelift, while the seven doctors trained in Ghana will in future reduce the doctor-patient ratio.

This recent assistance to the Gambia by the government of Republic of China (Taiwan) is another evidence of commitment on their side in helping The Gambia to attain the MDG goals.

Health care requires a lot of resources, and maintaining a healthy populace requires support from development partners like the ROC to help strengthen the sector.

Other than this latest intervention, ROC annually provides hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Gambia’s health and other national priority sectors.Since a healthy  nation is likely to become a wealthy nation, we urge the government and her development partners like the government of the ROC to keep putting more resources in the sector.

We also encourage other development partners to emulate the ROC.