It would be recalled that the doctors arrived in The Gambia on January 26th, 2024 and stayed for two weeks to work with their counterparts at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) in Banjul.
The doctors provided free medical services to patients as well as training medical personnel at the hospital.
During the courtesy visit, H.E. Ambassador Bah warmly welcomed the delegation to the Embassy and expressed gratitude to the team for travelling to The Gambia to share experiences with their Gambian counterparts. He urged the team to come up with suggestions that could help address the constraints and limitations they observed in the health sector during their visit.
Ambassador Bah assured the doctors that the Embassy would stand side by side with them in their effort to provide the much-needed assistance to The Gambia health sector in the areas of training, medical equipment, drugs and other related items.
The Ambassador further craved the indulgence of the team to make the medical mission to The Gambia an annual event, noting that its continuity will contribute immensely to the healthcare needs of Gambians.
Lt. Gen Yakuba A. Drammeh (Retired), the deputy head of Mission, joined the Ambassador in thanking the doctors for undertaking such a worthwhile mission to The Gambia at their own cost.
Dr. Carol Penn, who headed the delegation said they were delighted to travel to The Gambia to scale up support for the health needs of Gambians. She said the mission would continue as it had increased the people-to-people exchanges in health. She said the exchange with their counterparts helped them to understand new approaches to certain health conditions.
Victoria Adjekpiyede of Sunu Reew Medical Mission, said that they’re looking into making the medical mission an annual event dedicating the entire month of February for the doctors to be in The Gambia. She disclosed that other medical practitioners have also expressed interest in joining the team.
Speaker after speaker amongst the medical team renewed their commitment to continue with the medical mission. They also commended Ambassador Bah for the support and for also honouring a pledge he made in June 2023 to travel with them to Banjul.
Source: Embassy of the Republic of The Gambia
United States of America
