By Olimatou Coker
Charitable organisation Holding Hands Gambia, last Friday donated 28 sets of hospital beds and three wheelchairs to Kanifing General Hospital.
The charity also donated three delivery lamps, and walking aids of various types to Bakau Health Centre.
It also donated walking frames, toilet seats and rollators to the disability unit of the Department of Social Welfare.
The Chief Executive Officer of Kanifing General Hospital, Kebba Manneh, said the donation will help in the delivery of quality health care service, and thanked the donors for the “gesture.”
He highlighted some of the “challenges the hospital is encountering including inadequate and lack of proper storage” and how “grossly underfunded” it remains.
“Lack of training and inadequate qualified specialists is also posing a challenge to the hospital,” he added.
He praised government for “providing essential medication but there are special or emergency medications that are not always available.
“We cannot accommodate too many patients. The hospital is located at a highly populated area, serving over half a million people. It is difficult to cope with the inflow of patients coming to the hospital.”
Manneh said there are Gambian doctors and nurses who can be trained to become specialists but said funding has always been “a challenge.”
“That is why public-private partnership is needed,” he emphasised.
Holding Hands founder Assie Camara said she has been assisting Gambian hospitals since 2013.
“As a Gambian, I try to contribute my quota to improving our health sector.”
Momodou Savage, officer responsible for wheelchairs at the social welfare department’s disability unit, said the items will help those suffering from stroke and amputation.
