By Aminata Kuyateh
The Ministry of Health’s Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), on Monday held a one-day validation workshop to assess The Gambia’s maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) elimination status.
EPI Programme Officer Sidat Fofana said sustained immunisation efforts have sharply reduced tetanus among women and newborns and that the country believes it meets WHO’s elimination criteria. The validation exercise will review whether The Gambia continues to meet the global standard and compile evidence to confirm the achievement, he added. Fofana thanked WHO, Unicef and other partners for their support.
WHO Representative to The Gambia, Dr Nathan Bakyaita, called the exercise a reaffirmation of the principle that no mother or newborn should die from a preventable disease.
He noted that The Gambia was validated by WHO for MNT elimination in 2021, joining 46 other countries to reach that milestone.
Dr Bakyaita warned that elimination must be maintained through high immunisation coverage, quality antenatal care and robust disease surveillance. He said the post-validation assessment will check whether every district continues to record fewer than one neonatal tetanus case per 1,000 live births and will identify districts needing improvement.
Deputy Director of Health Services Dr Fatoumatta Dibba said the assessment findings will inform recommendations to strengthen the programme. She proposed that The Gambia consider extending tetanus vaccination to all women of reproductive age, including non-pregnant women, potentially alongside the HPV vaccination programme.
Dr Dibba urged sustained commitment from policymakers, frontline health workers and communities as she officially opened the validation workshop.
