Gambia - Hospital donors conference targets D10M

The convergence saw pledges from various institutions including the Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation (SSFHC) – that declared its’ intention to support the hospital with an esophagoscopy. Other institutions that pledged were the BCC, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), Qatar Embassy in The Gambia, The Gambia Ports Authority (GPA), Standard Chartered Bank, Trust Bank, The Gambia International Airlines (GIA), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) country office, the British embassy and The Gambia Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

In his remarks, the Health and Social Welfare minister, Omar Sey, said the hospital needs to be supported by all and sundry given that it receives a lot of complicated cases on a daily basis. He informed that in most cases, private clinics refer many of their complicated cases to the hospital at its expense.

The minister hastened to disclose plans by the hospital to change this status quo that will ensure that private clinics will foot the bills of patients they refer to the main hospital.

Sey appealed to the private sector to continue assisting the hospital and to also create a budget for the health sector. He stressed that issues of health care are beyond insurance, thus soliciting the support of all and sundry so as to help the people, particularly the rural poor. He seized the opportunity to thank the private sector for its immense contribution towards the health sector over the past years.

Speaking earlier, the managing director of SSHFC, Edward Graham, also a board member of EFSTH underscored the inextricable link between health care delivery and development, enunciating the common adage that “a healthy nation is a wealthy nation”. He called on the private sector to come up with good pledges and invest in the future generation of the nation through the health sector.

The chief medical director of EFSTH, Dr. Muhammed Ammar Al Jafari, said although the hospital has undergone a lot of transformation, it still needs more support from the public and private sectors to address its urgent needs. He stressed that government’s effort in addressing the critical needs of the hospital should be complemented by the stakeholders so as to ensure good health care delivery service at the facility.

The Syrian-born doctor used the meeting to disclose plans to operate a private clinic at the hospital as a strategy to augment the institution’s revenue. “The laboratory unit at the hospital needs to be strengthened despite the fact that its [situation] has improved. But still it needs to be fully equipped with the necessary tools required for its effective functioning,” he told the conference.

Highlighting some of the challenges the hospital has been confronted with, he indicated that bed capacity at the hospital needs to be strengthened, amongst other things.

The deputy mayor of Banjul, Awa Sillah-Njie, who stepped in for Mayor Abdoulie Bah, said the hospital is a priority for Banjul and the country at large, thus needed to be supported. She said the BCC will support the mortuary and will further seek assistance on behalf of the hospital through the Banjul-Oostende City Link.