The Gambia News

Banjul, 09 April 2012 -- During the past couple of weeks The Gambia had been actively engaged in a series of international health events – synchronized polio NIDs, World TB Day and World Health Day respectively. The first in the series was the successful conduct of National Immunization Days against polio (NIDs) from 23 to 26 March 2012.

Banjul, 17 January 2012 -- “We in the education sector believe that the learner needs to be given room for self-exploration and application of what is learnt rather than being a passive recipient. This is exactly what the WHO Health Academy Project is trying to achieve”. These were the words of the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Baboucarr Bouy, at a recent ceremony marking the end of a countrywide inter-secondary school competition on the WHO Health Academy Project (HAP).

Banjul, 12 December 2011 -- The Honourable Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Fatim Badjie, this morning launched the national measles vaccination campaign at the Kanifing Municipal Council Headquarters. An estimated 310735 children between 9 and 59 months are targeted for this exercise. Vitamin A supplementation for the 6 - 59 months old, representing a target population of 329014 children, will also be carried out simultaneously during the one week exercise which ends on Sunday, 18th of December 2011.

Advocacy visit

The Gambia, a country in West Africa is preparing to introduce the New meningococcal Vaccine « MenAfriVac », by mid-november 2013. In preparation to this public health event, an advocacy mission was conducted in Banjul to meet with the national authorities and the stakeholders.

Banjul, 18th June 2013 -- World Blood Donor Day which is commemorated on 14th June every year has been marked this year with a global campaign that focused on the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank voluntary unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood.

Blood transfusion is an important component of health care delivery as the threat to life due to insufficient blood stocks and the risk of transfusion-transmissible infections calls for safe and adequate blood supply for those in need.

“Using ICT to promote health in schools”

Banjul, Friday, 7 June 2013 -- The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced the 10 winners of its first continent-wide eHealth competition for 2013. This award, according to information issued on AfDB website, recognizes the current work being done in e-health and m-health in Africa and aims at encouraging the production and sharing of knowledge on eHealth solutions.

Banjul, Thursday, 6 June 2013 -- The Gambia has successfully participated in the 2013 synchronized, sub-regional National Immunization Days (NIDs) against polio in which 13 countries in West and Central African countries took part. The four-day exercise began on Friday 24 and ended on Monday 27 May 2013.

MenAfriVac mass campaign vaccination that is conducted in the Gambia since the 28 of November will give the opportunity to about 1.2 million people from 1-29 years old to get immunized against meningitis « A » the more epidemic type of meningitis in Africa.

Banjul, Wednesday 05 June, 2013 -- The Gambia joined the international community in commemorating World No Tobacco Day on 31 May 2013. The event was launched in the village of Sibanor in the West Coast Region, about 70 km from the capital, Banjul.

On the second day of the campaign, UNICEF and WHO Representatives in the Gambia were in the field to make a follow up and a supervision visit. The two Representatives were with their technical teams.