The presentation held at the Central Medical Store, Kotu, comes following a request by the Ministry to the Indian Community on how best to complement government efforts in the ongoing fights against the virus.
Receiving the items on behalf of the Ministry, Lamin Ceesay, senior logistic officer on the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) at the Ministry, expressed appreciation to be associated with the event, further describing it as ‘timely and worthy’ considering that vovid-19 is still with us.
Ceesay noted that the move was part of their broader engagement with stakeholders, further calling for the need for more public-private partnership.
However, the gesture, according to officials, is not the first as the association in the past has presented food items to needy households in the county.
“When we talk about covid-19, it is multifaceted, so we definitely have to take a lot of dimension to effectively fight against the virus. The vaccination part is very key and this is where we are. As a country, I think we have gone very far but along the line, we also need some aspect in the implementation, which is very key and among them is community engagement.”
He further thanked the Indian Socio-cultural Association for the gesture, reminding that in the fight against covid-19, government alone cannot do it, thus the need for partnership.
Suresh Kumar, president of the Indian Socio-Cultural Association in The Gambia, while describing the gesture as a small token, recalled that during the height of the pandemic, the Indian Community distributed over 2000 parcels of food items to 2000 families.
“Our Indian government also contributed by sending 7 tonnes of medicines and other essential items which were handed over by the Indian honorary consul in The Gambia to the Ministry.”
Kumar thus encouraged people especially those who haven’t taken the vaccines to go get vaccinated.
Also speaking, Mr Ram Mohan, Honorary Consul General of India in The Gambia, while thanking the Indian community for the gesture, extolled the smooth bilateral relation between The Gambia and India.
He indicated that the Indian government in the past has granted short term scholarships to a growing number of Gambian students to pursue courses in Indian education facilities.
Honorary consul Mohan also acknowledged and informed that India is one of the largest manufacturers of vaccines in the world, adding that Indian community is a diverse one.
