A six-year long Community Medical Doctors Programme was yesterday launched by President Yahya Jammeh at the State House grounds in Banjul, where he emphatically warned against brain drain, which has been depriving the country of its cream, particularly in the public service.

The programme was conceived by President Jammeh in consultation with President Fidel Castro of Cuba, where the programme was invented. To this effect, a team of Cuban medical doctors and professors will train young Gambian students recruited from various communities, where they will operate after successfully completing the six-year programme, which is the first of its kind in Africa.

As a show of his devotion to achieving quality health care for Gambians, the President personally procured 44 brand new and state-of-the-art Dell computers, besides shouldering the capital cost for the take-off and success of the programme - divided into a cycle of 12 semesters. It was designed to deepen students’ knowledge and facilitate research in subject areas, thereby addressing the human resource constraints in the health care service delivery system of the country.

Launching the programme, President Jammeh said the initiative will help to realise the goals of Vision 2020 earlier than expected. He told the students that the success and failure of the programme depends on them. He informed the students that anyone who cannot stay up to the completion of the programme must leave, noting that students who wish to quit the programme half way ahead would not be accepted, as this would derail the objective. He disclosed that it costs at least £13,000 to train personnel in similar programmes in the UK.

He stressed issue of brain drain, saying that his government will not sit down and watch the departure of certified personnel for greener pastures, after training them locally. To this end, he informed the gathering that all the students would be bonded to make sure that they serve their own people. He maintained that the programme has come to continue, emphasising that it will “never fail”.

The Gambian leader pointed to the UK as the biggest poacher of Gambian medical personnel and then asked if that was democracy. He said the UK deprives the country of its cream and reflected on similar occurrences during the slave trade. He said the same country rejects “unqualified” people, forcing them to remain in Africa through its anti-immigration laws, after robbing the country of its cream.

“You are being trained to serve the people and not those in the West. We will not train you for export. We have not reached that stage,” he noted, urging the students not to use the programme as a springboard to go abroad.

“You are selected from a community and you must serve your community,” he further urged.

The President observed that the West wants Africa and Africans to always trail behind them; a trend that he vowed not to accept as far as the welfare of Gambians is concerned.
 
Democracy and human rights

President Jammeh described Cuba as a true democracy and a true champion of human rights. He recalled that Cubans had fought for African countries, who never dreamt that that they would be liberated, citing Angola and Namibia as examples.

“You cannot call yourself a democrat when you are killing and bullying people. You cannot call yourself a champion of human rights when you are bombing and firing missiles at people,” he charged. He stressed that Cuba is exporting services to serve humanity, contrary to some other countries, which are exporting destitution and death. He condemned the US imposed blockade on Cuba as a “criminal blockade”.

“They are spending billions to kill others in foreign countries. But if they spend just US$1 billion to train people as doctors in the third world, poverty will be reduced,” he added.

He said in democracy, the majority is supreme. However, he observed that the Western powers are faltering in the observation of this principle, by supporting the minority in the name of freedom of expression. He said these powers support “small criminal gangs” whose wish is to hold the majority hostage.

Dr Tamsir Mbowe, Secretary of State for Health and Social Welfare, said the programme is meant to complement the efforts of the School of Medicine of the University of The Gambia and to accelerate the realisation of the President’s vision of bringing quality health care to the doorsteps of every Gambian. Secretary of State Mbowe said the programme will include internship, knowledge consolidation, and training in conducive work habits. “Instruction will be conducted through teleconference; close relationships between professor, tutor and student; study guides, educational soft ware and in-service training,” he explained.

“This training seeks to address our structural constraints in trained doctors in the health sector. The training will be located at the points of high demand for medical services, namely Basse, Bansang, Farafenni and Bwiam,” he said.

Dr Mbowe informed the gathering that the recruitment method is meant to widen access to opportunities of university education and to enhance the achievement of high levels of equity and social justice.

“Thus, the training is oriented towards profound ethical values, close contact with people in their environment and commitment to our people and mankind. The rationale is to promote the understanding of medicine, both as a biological and social science, and to create a balanced personality with relevant knowledge and a scientific approach to the solution of the health problems of the people,” he elaborated.

Health Secretary of State Mbowe indicated that the medical students will be trained in the art and science of comprehensive medical care, besides building their capacity in research and administrative skills to ensure the proper use of human, material and financial resources. Dr Mbowe added that this will also enable them to detect environmental hazards and execute preventive measures.

Dr Mbowe paid tribute to President Jammeh for sponsoring his medical training programme in both Ghana and Dublin, Ireland.

He commended President Jammeh for his “enlightening leadership” and the Cuban government for its partnership. He then thanked all those who contributed to the realisation of the launching of the programme, including the Department of State for Basic Education, the Cuban medical team, divisional health teams, and regional governors.

Carlos Salsamendi, Cuban Ambassador to The Gambia, expressed his admiration of the shared revolutionary vision of President Jammeh and Comandante Fidel Castro, despite geographical distance.

“Often it comes to my mind what both of them have said in a 30-year span: ‘For a poor country to develop it needs, first of all, an educated and healthy population.’  Back in 1999 President Jammeh and President Castro agreed to jointly work together to set up a medical school here in The Gambia and it was done that same year,” Ambassador Salsamendi recalled.

He informed the gathering that the main guidelines of Cuban cooperation in the health sector in Third World countries is to train doctors and help in the in-service training of nurses and all other professionals, technicians, and assistants working next to the Cuban personnel.

He described President Jammeh’s support as a determinant contribution to the realisation of the programme. He finally thanked the Secretary of State for Health, Dr Tamsir Mbowe.

Dr Adama Sallah, Chairman of the RVTH Management Board and Registrar of the Gambia Dental and Medical Council, said the programme will complement the service delivery of Western traditional medicine, which deals more with referrals and specialised cases. According to him, the successful implementation of the programme will be a shining example for the rest of Africa, noting that it is not meant to compete or replace Western traditional medicine.

Sulayman Samba, Permanent Secretary at the Department of State for Health and Social Welfare, chaired the ceremony, which was also attended by a number of Secretaries of State, members of the Cuban medical team, security chiefs, and Dr Nestor Shivute, Country Representative of WHO, among other dignitaries.