The Gambia Chapter of Wassu Gambia Kafo (WGK) recently donated hospital equipment to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare through the health minister.
The donated items included electrocardiographs, sterile dressing, sterile gauzes, pairs of latex gloves, gauze bandage, compression bandages, crepe bandages, BP machines, otoscopes, face masks, nurse uniforms, reflex hammers, computer sets, projector, tongue depressor, torch pen drive, and medical text books, all meant for the various health centres and hospitals in the country.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony held at the Health Ministry conference room in Banjul, the executive director of the Kafo, Prof. Adriana Kaplan, said Wassu Gambia Kafo is an international non-profit initiative established to promote cooperation and development between The Gambia and Spain in health, research, and education.
He said the WGK has been working in The Gambia since 1989 for the improvement of women’s and children’s health and rights.
Prof. Kaplan said that since its establishment, the WGK has been assisting the Public Health System through donation of medical and laboratory equipment, drugs and clinical supplies to various hospitals and health facilities in The Gambia.
Prof. Kaplan added that the organization has also been supporting health education institutions, such as the School of Medicine and Allied Health Science of the UTG, the Community-Based Medical Programme (CBMP), and the Nursing Schools of Banjul, Bansang and Mansakonko, with computers, projectors, and teaching materials and various medical equipment and supplies.
In total, since its creation, the donations from the WGK to the Public Health System have amounted to more than D13 million, he said.
According to Prof. Kaplan, the organization is also committed to preventing FGM/C through conducting applied research and training of health professionals and students in The Gambia.
For her part, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Hon. Fatim Badjie, expressed happiness with the donors, saying her ministry has a long relationship with the kafo.
Minister Badjie welcomes their initiative on FGM and assured them that the donated items “will go a long way” in boosting her ministry’s efforts.
Chief Nursing Officer Margaret Gomez also expressed delight at the donation and thanked the donors, saying the kafo has been working as partners with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare by training their students on reproductive health, which is still going on.
The director of healthy service, Mamadi Cham, chaired the occasion.
