The agency in partnership with the Islamic Development Bank gave the assurance yesterday during the opening ceremony of the IDB/TIKA week-long visit regarding the Reverse Linkage Funding Support in Banjul.
In his remark, the senior technical cooperation specialist at IDB, Mr Ahmed Diken, said there was need to develop a project that would address the needs of the School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences of the University of The Gambia. He added: “In the next few days, we will work with colleagues from the UTG to identify the needs of the University’s Faculty of Medicine in developing a project that will hopefully address your needs and makes this faculty to go a step further so that we can all serve the people of The Gambia better.
“The project we are about to undertake is based on a programme we called the ‘Reverse Linkage Programme’. This is a recent programme we started, based on the principles of solidarity and friendship and brotherhood. What IDB mainly does in this programme is facilitate linkages between countries that are well developed and countries that require further development and link experiences and expertise and transfer that to these links of solidarity and brotherhood.”
On his part, the acting vice chancellor of the UTG, Mr Jenung Manneh expressed the belief that it is through the various contributions from the government and partners like IDB that the challenges facing the institution will be address.
He said: “Needless to say, the enhance skills, competencies and capacities that will be acquired as a result of your intervention will significantly improve the proficiency of the medical staff in the performance of their duties and responsibilities.
“The University as an institution will need to create new learning communities and spaces in which connectivity is the key to individual development and academic success and must be at the forefront of development in the process of digital scholarship.
“The School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences wished to expand the internal medicine unit, the community medicines unit, psychiatry and pharmacology. There is also a multi-disciplinary laboratory which needs funding for the purchase of equipment. In the department of surgical sciences, teaching staff are required in general surgery and in obstetrics and gynaecology. The department of nursery and reproductive health has constraints such as staff shortage, inadequate space and lack of transport in the clinical areas.”
The deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Fatou Mbye said despite huge investment and numerous successes, evidence suggests that the nascent school was still grappling with challenges. “It is my sincere belief, that investment in this facility and in other areas where funding is being sought for, will greatly enhance the progress of the School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, facilitate the attainment of PAGE and Vision 2020, and complement the effort of the President,” she said.
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