The Embassy of the United State of America in Banjul on Tuesday presented a state of the art ultrasonic scanning machine to the Gambia Family Planning Association Clinic.

The machine worth over US$45,000, is a donation from the US Department of Defence and a response to a request made by the Gambia Family Planning Association.

Speaking at the ceremony, Barry L Wells, US Ambassador to The Gambia said his embassy has been working together with the Department of Defence to help the people of The Gambia for many years. According to him, his government through its embassy has donated to various projects and organizations throughout the country.

"It is indeed fitting to say that improvement in the health sector is a key priority for our humanitarian assistance program and the US government attaches great importance to the sector in our work with people of the developing world," said the US Ambassador.
Yankuba Dibba, executive director, GFPA, informed the gathering that GFPA has earned a reputation as the pre-eminent non-governmental organization in the area of sexual reproductive health.

Mr Dibba revealed that from last year to date, the GFPA clinic has served over 46,000 clients, mainly women and children.
The GFPA boss thanked the US Defense Department for their foresight in fulfilling their request.

For his part, Mutarr Jammeh, programme manager, GFPA, who chaired the ceremony, thanked the US government through its embassy in Banjul for the good gesture. According to him, the machine will go a long way in improving the quality of health care at the clinic.