Eighteen leading health experts from China arrived in The Gambia on Monday, nine of them prominent epidemic control experts who have rich first-hand experience in fighting COVID-19.
“They will work in The Gambia for three months. At the request of the Gambian government, these experts have been selected by China’s National Health Commission in late September, and dispatched immediately after The Gambia officially resumed inbound flights.
The other nine experts are members of the fourth China Medical Team, a cohort of doctors specializing in various fields who come to provide general medical services to the Gambian public in the coming one year. All the experts will also provide assistance in strengthening Gambia’s public health security system,” a statement by the Chinese embassy in The Gambia said on Monday.
In his welcoming remarks, the Chinese ambassador to The Gambia, Ma Jianchun, said the fruitful China-Gambia cooperation in fighting COVID-19 started since early this year.
He pointed out that, while the COVID-19 situation in The Gambia has improved, the pandemic is still raging across the world, therefore it is necessary to maintain vigilance.
He hoped that the Chinese experts’ work could help consolidate Gambia’s COVID-control achievements made so far, and assist in further improving the country’s capabilities of safeguarding public health security.
Ambassador Ma said that China would continue to stand with The Gambia in the face of COVID-19, and join hands to build a community of public health security for all mankind.
Dr. Ahmadou Lamin Samateh, the Gambian Minister of Health and Social Welfare, welcomed the experts to The Gambia which he called their “new home”.
He recalled the frequent interactions between his Ministry and the Chinese Embassy on joining hands to combat the pandemic, and hailed the experts’ arrival as yet another action that demonstrates international solidarity in fighting COVID-19.
He expressed the hope that the experts will assist The Gambia in building better resilience against future public health security threats, in addition to complementing its efforts in keeping COVID-19 at bay.
