Chinese medical doctors in The Gambia to train hospital personnel

637

By ALIMATOU S BAJINKA

The Government of The Gambia has on Monday, May 30, 2022 received a team of nine medical doctors from The People’s Republic of China to train personnel at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) in Banjul.

Speaking at the Banjul International Airport, the Deputy Director of Health Services Dr. Momodou T. Nyassi, who received the team on behalf of the Ministry of Health, said this would be the fifth medical team from the Republic of China to support the country’s health sector.

He reiterated the importance of the medical support team to the existing healthcare delivery of the country.

“This is going to boost the existing healthcare services though we have a lot of medical personnel but it is not enough, so with their coming, they are going to fill a huge vacuum,” Dr. Momodou T Nyassi said.

The Deputy Director of Health Services commended the People’s Republic of China for supporting the Government of The Gambia through the Ministry of Health by providing medical assistance for the past years.

“This would be the fifth medical team that they are providing to the government, which comprised of nine (9) doctors in various specialties. They are going to be here for a period of one year and would involve in the training and teaching of medical personnel at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital,” he stated.

Dr. Nyassi added that the Chinese medical teams have been helping the country’s health sector since the beginning of Covid-19, by proving them with laboratory and diagnostic tools and infection control prevention materials.

He said the help is much needed due to the limited medical personnel in hospitals.

“If you look at the ratio of doctors or nurses to patients is very high, so they are going to close the gap greatly and reduce the queuing to wait for one doctor,” Dr. Nyassi stressed.

According to him, the Chinese medical team would always be at the EFSTH but they would sometimes visit other hospitals within the country if their services are needed.

Dr. Jiaxing Sun, the Chinese medical team leader who spoke on behalf of the team expressed gratitude and their readiness to work in The Gambia.

“We will do as much as we can to improve The Gambia’s health sector, we are excited to be here,” Dr. Jiaxing said.

He revealed that their medical teams have worked in The Gambia as partners for the past years, especially during the pandemic.

He said the Chinese doctors would be shifted but the trained personnel would stay in the country.

“We are two nations but one people. This is the fifth time and we will continue to come,” he asserted.