Background
Health The Gambia was founded by a mixture of Gambians and Europeans, all of whom have had direct experience of working in The Gambia. For a variety of reasons, this support is based around Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital, although we hope to be involved with projects that benefit the Gambian Health Service as a whole. We are registered as a charity in the UK, and are regulated by the UK Charity Commission.
Our Work
Our aim is to support healthcare in The Gambia. We do this by funding small projects at Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital and by arranging and funding medium term training projects for staff at the hospital. For more information, see our ‘work’ section.
The Gambia
The Gambia is one of the world's smallest and poorest countries, and is almost entirely surrounded by Senegal.
Although politically stable, it has few natural resources and is one of the world's poorest countries. Compared to much of West Africa, it has few natural resources, but is relatively untouched by the conflict that has ravaged many countries in West Africa.
How can I help?
Although we have been able to start with some essential work, we still desperately need more money to continue our work. For details about how to donate, click here. If you are interested in being involved in other ways - such as helping to arrange fund-raising events, or if you would be interested in working in The Gambia please contact us.
Debt relief and The Gambia:
On 12th June 2005, the G7 Finance Ministers agreed a deal under which the debt burden of 18 African countries would be written off. A further 9 countries, including The Gambia, will be eligible for this relief once good governance targets are met – this hasn't yet happened in Gambia's case. The Gambia owes US$245million in international debt and a further $170m in domestic debt, but the country's income is little more than US$100million per annum. The Gambian government is spending nearly twice as much on debt payments (over 20% of GDP) than on healthcare. Even if this write-off happens, that won't be the end of the story. The Gambia remains, and will be even after the debt relief proposals are implemented, a very poor country.
You can support this process by supporting Health The Gambia in its work - remember, this isn't just about numbers, it's about people's lives. Can you help?
Global Health Partnerships:
On 13th February 2007, the UK Government pledged £1million to the Global Healthcare Workers' Alliance, of which HTG is a member. The GWHA is designed to bring together NGOs, international organisations and other stakeholders to address the shortage of healthcare workers in the developing world by seeking solutions to problems such as migration of skilled healthcare professionals and the lack sustainable funding for healthcare. HTG is making its voice heard on behalf of healthcare workers at RVTH to advocate for long-term resolution of these problems.
On the same day, a UK Government-sponsored report Global Health Partnerships was published. This report clearly recognises both the responsibility of developed countries to support training for healthcare workers in developing countries, and also the benefits which accrue to developed countries in partnerships at national, organisational and individual levels with developing countries. HTG endorses the conclusions of the report, which call for closer links between healthcare and development activities. HTG is committed to supporting RVTH not only in improving patient care in the short term, but also in providing RVTH with a stable platform from which it can develop high quality healthcare for its patients and high quality training for its staff.