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The briefing was held at the Ministry of Health, Quadrangle, Banjul. The team, led by Dr. Nonso Ejiofor, WHO Representative in Eritrea, has a critical mission to assist Eritrea in strengthening its preparedness and response to public health emergencies.
Furthermore, during the visit, the team also had the opportunity to engage extensively with relevant government agencies and stakeholders with a view to identifying some of the shortcomings in the country’s health sector and suggesting measures to address these challenges.
After briefly describing the visit, WHO Representative in The Gambia, Jayne Maina, began by congratulating the team on the successful completion of their four-day mission in The Gambia, helping the country achieve this important milestone.
She disclosed that the initiative is a collaborative effort and as part of its roadmap, they were able to identify core priority areas which “if successfully achieved” would give the country a better chance of responding to current, emerging and potential emergencies in the country.
Dr. Notso Ejiofo, WHO Representative in Eritrea who led the team, gave a brief overview of the team’s mission in Eritrea and said the team’s mission had a key agenda, which was to work with the Government of The Gambia to strengthen public health emergency capacity and be able to prepare, detect, respond and recover in emergencies.
Dr. Ejiofor mentioned that the Ministers of Health of WHO African Region Member States made a high-level commitment at the 72nd session of the WHO Regional Committee held in Lomé, Togo in August 2022 to approve the Regional Health Security Strategy.
“Therefore, to implement this goal, the WHO African Regional Public Health Emergencies Programme, in collaboration with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, has developed a three-in-one initiative that focuses on strengthening and working towards strengthening country health security capacities.”
He reminded that health protection has three pillars, emphasizing that early treatment is crucial for effective response and recovery.
Dr. Ejiofor insisted that operational support and logistics are fundamental because for all these to work effectively, the basic support needs to be better provided.
He disclosed that they interacted with various sectors during their stay in the country and observed that there is very strong political commitment and willingness in the country to enhance health security.
Dr. Ishata Conteh, Team Leader of the Emergency Management Support Unit in the World Health Organization’s African Region, gave a PowerPoint presentation detailing some of the existing gaps they had identified and proposed solutions.
She also spoke about the progress The Gambia has made in its health emergency response plan compared to other countries she has visited.
She revealed that in her engagement with stakeholders, the engagement is not only around health but also around the environment because climate change is real.
The Ministry’s Deputy Permanent Secretary, Technical Department, Babanding Sabally also made a valuable contribution and thanked the visiting delegation for submitting a comprehensive report despite the short duration of the visit.
The Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Adama Drammeh, thanked the delegation for the comprehensive report prepared during the four-day excavation mission.
She assured that they have received all the suggestions and ideas and will work to put them into practice to strengthen the national health system.
A similar sentiment was expressed by the Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, Abubacar Jah Jr., who chaired the meeting. Jah thanked the WHO delegation for its dedication and efforts in identifying some areas that require adjustments.
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