The Ministry of Health, Horizons Trust Gambia, and KanifingGeneral Hospital have announced a new standard of operating care available for expectant mothers and newborn babies in The Gambia, as two “Smart Pods” recently arrived at Kanifing General Hospital, which will be launched 23rdOctober 2024 at the Kanifing General Hospital, KMC.
These two Smart Pods will enable staff to carry out emergency obstetric procedures – such as cesarean sections – in an advanced clinical setting.
The Smart Pods are the result of a long-term collaboration between Horizons Trust Gambia and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, US. With the support of the Ministry of Health, these mobile units have now arrived from the US and are in use. The first C-section was successfully completed on 1st September, with gynecologist Dr Green Harris at the helm.
He summed up the inaugural operation in the Smart Pods saying “It’s a blessing to see years of planning materialise, and I was humbled with the honour to do the first obstetric surgery in the first-of-its-kind theatre in our beloved nation.” Built by Xploration Health and very generously financed by The Trini & O.C. Mendenhall Foundation, this facility aims to decrease maternal and infant mortality in The Gambia. Dubbed the “Safer Delivery Project”, the Smart Pods follow on from two years of training that Baylor College of Medicine has invested in staff at Kanifing General Hospital.
The hospital’s CEO, Mr Basiru Drammeh, says: “By providing a state-of-the-art environment for maternity surgery, the pods are expected to greatly improve the quality and accessibility of care for women in our community. The arrival of the Smart Pods signals a new era of maternity healthcare in The Gambia.”
The benefactor of the initiative, Mrs Trini Mendenhall Royalty, says: “We as women are nurturing by nature, and by this, we can empower women to help make this a better world for our children now and future generations. I am honoured to support this project.”
Dr Sharmila Anandasabapathy, Vice President, Global Programs at the Baylor College of Medicine added “We are so pleased to have helped deliver this unique solution to friends and partners in The Gambia, a country which we have worked closely with for nearly a decade now. One important aspect is the high level of innovation involved in this unit: it is the first portable, container operating room in West Africa for transforming maternal health.”
“Thank you to all our partners for making this dream a reality. At Horizons, we are passionate about protecting every expectant mother and newborn baby in The Gambia. The arrival of the Smart Pods is a significant step towards that vision,” Dr. Melville George, Chairman of Horizons Trust Gambia thanked partners.
About Horizons Trust Gambia
Horizons Trust’s mission is to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in The Gambia. We work tirelessly to stop preventable deaths of mothers and babies in childbirth. The country has the 18th highest maternal mortality and the 26th highest neonatal mortality ratio in the world. Every single life lost is one too many. Our vision is a Gambia where no mother or baby dies a preventable death in childbirth. We partner with global institutions to provide world-class training for health workers, deliver outreach programmes in maternity units, and distribute essential equipment to midwives. Our dream is that every pregnancy is a happy event here.
About Baylor College of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine is a health sciences university that creates knowledge and applies science and discoveries to further education, healthcare, and community service locally and globally. Baylor’s vision is to improve health through science, scholarship, and innovation.