The team, courtesy of Stone Development Foundation, TOSOL Initiative and One Sight Essilor Luxotica Foundation recently visited the community of Gunjur, where they conducted free medical services and also donated clothes to the said community.
Moreover, the team since arrival in the country have been working closely with the Epidemiology and Disease Control Unit of the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to make the exercise possible.
Giving an insight into the exercise, Dr. Akifemi Akingboye, chief executive of TOSOL Initiative, UK, explained that collaborated with One Sight and Stone Development Foundation to conduct the free medical services to the community of Gunjur.
Dr. Akingboye revealed that they offered various kinds of free medical services as they checked blood pressure, sugar level, dental services as well as eye care services.
He acknowledged the warm reception accorded the delegation by Gambian communities, saying this is their first in the country.
“We are open for further collaboration to strengthen this kind of services to others areas across the country.”
He further encouraged other NGOs to reach out to The Gambia, further expressing their resolve to expand their free medical services to other areas in the country.
Dr. Akingboye also offered free lecture on surgery related practices to staff of the Surgical Department of the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital and also held surgeries operations at the facility.
Dr. Fumi Ogun, a consultant Ophthalmologist at Sheikh Zayed Regional Eye Care Centre in Kanifing, expressed delight to partner with the UK medics to provide holistic health care services to the community of Gunjur.
She revealed that since the start of the operation, they have been seeing simple cases of eye care related problems, highlighting that before the end of their exercise they will see a number of cases such as glaucoma, which is a silent blinding eye disease in the country.
Dr. Ogun revealed that at their Centre, they conduct regular screening of this eye problem, calling on people to always wear sunglasses wide enough to protect themselves especially children who are short sighted.
She equally called on those working at industries to get protective eye glass to minimise eye related injuries, saying that at their Centre, they always received cases of eye injuries.
Dr. Peter Ademiye, convener for Stone Development Foundation, which is one of the organisations implementing the community medical outreach in Gunjur made reference to similar exercise conducted in Liberia and that since the start of the exercise, they have seen a number of patients.
The Nigeria-based foundation, he added, is an outreach arm of the Stone Churches Worldwide saying they go to different countries to conduct free medical health care surgeries.
Dr. Peter also disclosed that they donated a consignment of clothes to patients who came to their treatment centre.
He thanked the Gambia Dental and Medical Council for giving their staff license to operate in the country and by extension the Ministry of Health for all their support.
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