Says Dr Mbowe

The Gambia’s mortality ratio has declined from 1,050 per 100,000 life births in 1990 to 730 per 100,000 life births in 2003, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Welfare has said.

Dr Tamsir Mbowe made this revelation at the 30th annual general and scientific meeting of the West African College of Physicians (WACP) held recently at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.
The meeting, which brought together members of WACP, was aimed at reviewing the past and creatively plan for the future of the college. In his opening remarks, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Tamsir Mbowe, who deputised for H.E. President Yahya Jammeh, said health is now widely recognised as an investment good.

“Massive capital investment has been embarked upon, accompanied by significant increases in recurrent expenditure. 17% of the national budget is allocated to the health sector,” Dr Mbowe revealed, noting that the cost-effective interventions in the health sector are being reflected in the marked improvement of the sector.

In addition to a marked decline in mortality ratio, The Gambia’s “EPI coverage is the highest in the sub-region and stands at 83% coverage for fully immunized children”, Dr Mbowe said.

He also revealed that The Gambia is currently certified by the World Health Organisation as a polio-free country.
For his part, the President of the West African College of Physicians, Dr Tumani Corrah, described this year’s theme - Aging - as timely and appropriate because the “African population is slowly but progressively growing older and appropriate”.

It is therefore necessary to advise African governments to put in place the necessary infrastructure to manage and support the elderly in a holistic manner, he said. “As the growth in the number of elderly Africans slowly increases, many more will experience strokes, heart attacks, diabetes, cancer, backaches, fractures, dementia, frailty, and many more will become dependant,” he said.