By: Nyima Sillah
Fatoumatta Bah Barrow Foundation (FABB) Friday donated Medical items to the Ministry of Health through the support of the Al- Balsam Care and Cure Foundation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The donation ceremony was held at the Central Medical store in Kotu.
The donation was meant to support the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in The Gambia and to strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two countries.
Speaking at the ceremony CEO of FABB Foundation, Fatou Ceesay, said: These are equipment that is highly needed at this point in time especially now that we have the second wave of Covid-19 all over the world.
“This donation is very timely for us as health in general is the main objective of the Foundation, and for the past 3-4years FABB Foundation has been working tirelessly in the health sector”
Rep of Al- Balsam Care and Cure, Bander Al Faifi, said the initiative will support the Country’s effort to stop the pandemic and straighten bilateral ties between the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and The Gambia government.
“This medical assistance provided by Al Basam Care and Cure Foundation comes in coordinating with King Salman Relief Centre to mitigate the effect of Coronavirus pandemic on the brotherly Gambian people”
Halima Ceesay Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for facilitating the donation of the medical items through the Al Basam Care and Cure Foundation to the FABB Foundation.
However, Minister of Health Dr. Ahmad Lamin Samateh, said: The First Lady Foundation has been a key partner in advancing the Gambia health sector and the Ministry of Health acknowledged their continuous support to the sector.
According to him, the FABB Foundation partnerships with good wonderful people like the Al
Basam Foundation and the King Salman Foundation have paid dividends in a sense that they have seen a whole lot of medications and a whole lot of consumables intensive care beds.
Adding to that “What makes the donation very special is that, we have two blood gas analyzers on this list. As we speak, we don’t have any blood gas analyzers in the country so seeing it among the donation items makes me very excited. And thanks to the First Lady for making another meaningful donation that will benefit Gambians across the country.”
Furthermore, Her Excellency First Lady Fatoumatta Bah Barrow, highlighted that this is the second time they are sending in a large quantity of Materials from Saudi after the visit they made to Saudi Arabia last year. She therefore thanked them for the timely gesture.
“We pray that this Foundation continues because for me, whatever I start , I believe in continuity, and I called on every Gambian to join us because the Foundation is for the Gambians and we are doing it because of the love we have for the Gambians”, she said.
FABB Foundation is a charity Foundation that was formed in 2017 to support poor communities, disadvantaged women, youth, children and vulnerable groups in the
Gambia. The Foundation supports key areas in health and social welfare through education and social development programs.