Sekou
Omar Dibba, the subject matter specialist at National Assembly, who was also
part of the tour championed by Select Committee on Health, Women, Children,
Disaster, Humanitarian Relief and Refugees, has called on the Regional Health
Directorate of West Coast Region to deploy more public health officers at the
Giboroh Border Post within 48 hours, amid confirmed coronavirus cases in
Senegal.
The
committee has just concluded a two day inspection at Gambia’s international
entry points in a bid to ascertain the scale of measures and preparedness
advanced by the Ministry of Health.
He
further urged that similar measures be applied to all other borders posts
across the country with mobility for easy movement so that The Gambia can be
safe from COVID-19.
Ousman
Sillah, National Assembly Member for Banjul North and the committee’s chairman
commended the Ministry of Health for the good work they have been doing in
terms of preparation towards the coronavirus. He therefore encouraged them to
do more “because the danger attached to the virus is serious and for that being
the reason, all the health structures across the country should be fully equipped
for any cases of the virus.”
Musa
Amul Nyassi, the National Assembly Member (NAM) for Foni Kansala, advised the
health officials at the (EFSTH) to include emergency budget in their annual
budget for emergency purposes.
The
committee’s first engagement started at the Banjul Seaport where they had
discussions with the principal public health officer, Saika Touray, who
described the committee’s visit very timely.
According
to Mr. Touray, the issue of coronavirus is everybody’s responsibility.
Mr.
Touray informed the members that his office was working closely with the port
officials and all the security sectors that are working at the seaport to
making sure that all are saved from coronavirus.
Catherine
Nying, the deputy director at the Gambia Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), said
that when they heard the news about the coronavirus, the management has formed
an emergency team involving health officials at the Banjul International
Airport to monitor the situation since January.
Jerreh
Camara, a public health officer at the Banjul International Airport, stated
that since they started the screening process at the airport, they haven’t come
across any suspected cases of the virus.
Bakary
Manga, the public health officer stationed at the Giboroh Border Post told
lawmakers that the materials that were provided for him to do the screening at
the border post were not sufficient for him to do his work as expected.
Mr.
Manga further told the committee that he was the only health officer at the
border in Giboroh, citing human resources as the major challenge. “It will be
very difficult to identify the symptoms of the coronavirus from the people that
are entering the country,” he admits.
Mr.
Momodou Sowe, the public health officer at the Amdallai Border Post informed the
committee that he was working closely with the Gambian and Senegalese security
officers in order to protect the two nations from the coronavirus. He said:
“When a confirmed case was reported in Senegal, the Ministry of Health put all
the necessary measures so that The Gambia can be protected.”
Dr.
Charles A. Roberts, at Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) told the
lawmakers that a lot has been done by the government of The Gambia through the
Ministry of Health in order to protect the well-being of Gambians.
He
said that the Ministry of Health is doing everything possible in making sure
that any suspected case is carefully handled for the betterment of the country
and well-being of the citizenry.
