Gambia: Ministry of Health expresses commitment to children healthcare service
Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - The Gambia’s Ministry of Health Tuesday expressed its commitment towards children’s access to health services by building more hospitals and health centres across the country.
It however accepted that many children lacked access to healthcare services as a result of poor governance system of the former regime led by Yahya Jammeh.
“This government inherited a health sector with lots of challenges. Among are inadequate medication, inadequate health facilities staff, and so many challenges (even) with dilapidated facilities. We are doing something about it,” Minister of Health Dr Ahmadou Samateh said here.
Dr Samateh disclosed that “most of the health facilities have drugs and consumables. When you go to these health facilities syrups are available in large quantities. When you go to these health facilities medicines are available in large quantities, so access has increased.”
He added that now there were lots of medications available for these children in these facilities and lots of equipments were coming too.
According to him, his ministry would soon start a community ambulance project in the whole country.
“We are in the pilot, very soon and the essence of that is to get patients to the hospitals very quickly even the roads are not very good,” he added.
The minister said the ambulances would be stationed at health facilities where villagers would request them whenever they need them.
Meanwhile, Alasana Saho, retired nurse, disagreed with the minister of health, saying “children rights to healthcare in this country are not fully implemented”. “From my own experience, because of low level of education and poverty, some people will lie down in their houses without going to hospital because they have no money.”
He urged government to try to provide health facility for every community with trained medical staff as well as essential drugs.
“Everybody should have access to a hospital or health centre at short walking distance; both child and mother should have access to essential drugs,” Saho said.
0- PANA MSS/RA 12May2020
