By Aji Fatou Faal
As the tour of facilities continues in earnest, the Select Committee on Health, Women, Children, Disaster, Refugees and Humanitarian Relief of the National Assembly Monday visited the Central Medical Stores to assess and gather first-hand information on the state of affairs of the facilities.
Babading Sabally, director of pharmaceutical services welcomed the committee for their first interaction with the lawmakers.
He noted that the National Medicines Policy (NMP) aims to contribute to the attainment of quality health services for Gambians through ensuring the continuous availability, accessibility and affordability of essential drugs of appropriate quality, safety and efficacy and by promoting their rational use.
Sabally further revealed that medicines are commodities that everybody wants as a results is quite challenging to make it available at all times and no country in this world can make it available to its populace and Gambia is no exceptional.
He disclosed the challenges facing the only Central Medical store of the country is electricity.
He assured the committee that they would ensure that essential drugs are made available to the population at affordable prices; ensure that all drugs available in the country are safe, efficacious and of good quality; promote rational use of drugs and provide objective information to health workers, patients and the general public; and ensure continuous education and professional training for pharmaceutical and other relevant health workers for the effective implementation of the NMP.
