Press release
On the evening of Monday 9th November, eighteen leading health experts from China arrived at Banjul International Airport. Nine of them are prominent epidemic control experts who have rich first-hand experience in fighting COVID-19. They will work in The Gambia for three months. At the request of the Gambian government, these experts have been selected by China’s National Health Commission in late September, and dispatched immediately after The Gambia officially resumed inbound flights. The other nine experts are members of the fourth China Medical Team, a cohort of doctors specializing in various fields who come to provide general medical services to the Gambian public in the coming one year. All the experts will also provide assistance in strengthening The Gambia’s public health security system.
H.E. Ambassador Ma Jianchun welcomed the experts at the airport. Also attending the welcome ceremony are Hon. Health Minister Dr. Ahmadou Lamin Samateh and some other officials from the Gambian Health Ministry.
Ambassador Ma in his brief remarks reviewed the fruitful China-Gambia cooperation in fighting COVID-19 since early this year. He pointed out that, while the COVID-19 situation in The Gambia had improved, the pandemic was still raging much of the world, therefore it was necessary to maintain vigilance. He hoped the Chinese experts’ work could help consolidate The Gambia’s COVID-control achievements made so far, and assist in further improving the country’s capabilities of safeguarding public health security. Ambassador Ma said that China would continue to stand with The Gambia in the face of COVID-19, and join hands to build a community of public health security for all mankind.
Hon. Samateh welcomed the experts to The Gambia which he called their “new home”. He reviewed the frequent interactions between his Ministry and the Chinese Embassy on joining hands to combat the pandemic, and hailed the experts’ arrival as yet another action that demonstrated international solidarity in fighting COVID-19. He expressed hope that the experts could assist The Gambia in better building resilience against future public health security threats, in addition to complementing its efforts in keeping COVID-19 at bay.
