Reveals Drugs & Substance Abuse Taskforce
By: Nyima Sillah
The Gambia has recorded 11 Kush-related deaths and 113 Kush cases, revealed the Gambia National Taskforce for Drug and Substance Abuse.
According to the task force’s report, dated 6 June2026, 19 new clinical cases have been reported fromhealth facilities in the last three weeks, bringing the total to 113 cases, representing an increase of 20%.
The task force said seven new Kush suspected deathshave been reported from health facilities, bringing the total to eleven (11) with a case fatality rate of 9.7%.
“One hundred and seven (107) people (5 female and 102 male) interdicted 73 Gambians, 29 Sierra Leoneans, 2 Senegalese, 1 Nigerian and 2 Conakry Guineans. Five (5) new cases (i.e. 3 Gambian,1Sierra Leonean and 1 Conakry Guinean) wereregistered by the Drug Law Enforcement Agency of The Gambia (DLEAG) thus bringing the total to 88. 17.486 grams of “Kush” have recently been confiscated bringing the total to 6.03 kilograms,” itadded.
According to the report, in early February 2024, the Epidemiology and Disease Control (EDC) Programme was notified of an upsurge in cases of suspected drug and substance abuse known locally as “Kush” in the Western 1 Health Region.
“All the cases presented with pain, swollen tongueand lips, drooling saliva, and restlessness. As of 24 June 2024, 113 cases and 11 associated deaths werereported with a case fatality rate of 9.7% in The Gambia. Initially, cases were reported from KanifingGeneral Hospital (KGH), Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) and Serrekunda HealthCentre. Of recent, Banjulunding and Sukuta healthcentres, Brufut health center, Essau District Hospitaland New Yundum health center have also startedreporting cases,” the report stated.
The report revealed that almost all cases were male;96% (108/113) with a median age of 22 years(ranging from 14-58 years).
“This means that 50% of cases are below 22 years of age. The most affected age group was the 14-23 years, 54% (61/113). All the cases were reportedfrom 6 districts within the country with Kombo Northaccounting for the highest (52%). The cases came from 44 communities within the districts with Bakauaccounting for the highest (7%), Jabang and Lamin(5%), and Sukuta and Talinding (4%),” the report showed.
“The clinical cases were reported from ten (10) health facilities (i.e. EFSTH, KGH, Serrekunda, Sukuta, Banjulinding, Brufut, Essau District Hospital, Ndemban Clinic, FJKHC and New YundumHealth Center). However, KGH reported the highest(47%) number of cases followed by EFSTH (37%),”it explained.
Meanwhile, the taskforce said that there was no case of admission.
