Big boost for health sector

The recent graduation of 17 Gambian doctors from the School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences of the University of The Gambia is indeed a big boost for the country.

This fourth cohort of graduates of the school, according to officials, will now bring the number of Gambian doctors to 59.

This new trend of development in the medical field will really strengthen the health delivery system in the country.

It would be recalled that before the establishment of the School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, there were only few Gambian practising doctors, and the patient-to- doctor ratio was very high.

At the time, we heavily depended on technical assistance from other countries in the sub-region to man our hospitals.

However, today we have young Gambian doctors manning our hospitals countrywide.

It is also important now, with this number of doctors in the field, for the government to provide the necessary incentives for them to be well motivated.

This is so that they would not only be trained, and confined within the Greater Banjul Area, but would be prepared to be posted to all the regions in the country, so that they can serve all the people at community level.

We would also like to encourage more Gambians to join the medical profession, so that they can better serve their country. If encouraged it is believed that the attrition rate of Gambian trained doctors and health officers will be curtailed substantially.