The Diplomat
The Canary Islands government delivered medical supplies to the government of the Republic of The Gambia on Wednesday to improve care at 14 hospitals in the African country.
According to a press release from the regional government, the regional minister of health, Esther Monzón, attended the delivery ceremony, which was also attended by Gambian health minister Ahmadou Lamin, the diplomatic representative of the Spanish Embassy in Senegal, Violeta Sandoval, and the president of the NGO StartUp Corazón Solidario, Sonya Arup.
The initiative, developed through the Canary Islands NGO StartUp Corazón Solidario, has enabled the donation of seventy-five mechanical hospital beds, five hundred sets of hospital bedding, twenty cribs, two incubators, twenty electromyograms, one thousand uniforms, three wheelchairs, ten IVs, two medical transport stretchers, and seven operating room tables, which will be used by nine clinics under the Gambian Fire Service and five public hospitals. This campaign, the largest ever undertaken by the Canary Islands to The Gambia, was supported by donations from private centers and clinics on the islands.
During the event, the Minister of Health emphasized the importance of “strengthening cooperation ties with neighboring countries within the Canary Islands-Africa Strategy,” led by the Canary Islands government, and of “building bridges with neighboring countries to improve their living conditions and prevent thousands of people from continuing to risk their lives for a better future.”