Gambia, 28 October 2008 -- The WHO Country Office this afternoon donated two blood bank fridges to the health sector. The items, worth about US$8000.00, were presented to the Chief Medical Director of the Royal Victoria Teaching (RVTH) by the WHO Country Representative, Dr Thomas Sukwa.

Presenting the items on behalf of the WHO Regional Director, Dr Luis Sambo, at the RVTH Grounds, Dr Sukwa renewed WHO’s commitment to initiatives and strategies that will reduce maternal morbidity and mortality in the Gambia. The items being presented, according to Dr Sukwa, were part of those initiatives that WHO Country Office was proud of pursuing in support of Government.

He said that the gesture was in response to a proposal from the RVTH to improve blood supply and storage facilities in the health facility, and was purposely meant to ‘ensure that mothers who require blood transfusion are adequately provided with the blood they need’.

Dr Sukwa said that to effectively address the high maternal morbidity and mortality in the country, the WHO will support the Gambia, as outlined in the proposal, to conduct a situational analysis on the causes and the magnitude of the problem in two RVTH catchment areas, the outcome of which will help in designing appropriate interventions.

Receiving the items on behalf of the Board of Governors of the RVTH, Dr Mariatou Jallow, Chief Medical Director of the Hospital, thanked WHO for the donation, which she described as a gesture of commitment to supporting the Gambia in addressing the high maternal morbidity and mortality. She said that one of the fridges will be stationed at the maternity wing of RVTH and the other at Sukuta Health Centre, but appealed to the general public, particularly the youth, to come forward and donate blood generously to make the fridges useful.

She said that the President and the Government have already shown their commitment to reducing maternal mortality by waving all clinic/hospital fees for maternal health services. But the onus is now on the citizenry to complement these efforts, as she rightly put it “together we can reduce maternal mortality and together we can achieve Millennium Development Goals.

The ceremony was attended by the Chairman of the RVTH Management Board, Dr Ebrahim Malick Samba, staff of the RVTH and WHO Country Office.