TİKA Built a Medical Oxygen Generation Plant in the Gambia

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) built a Medical Oxygen Generation Plant at Ndemban Hospital in Bakau, the Gambia.

The plant, which is the first one of its kind at the hospitals in the Gambia, will meet the daily oxygen needs of the hospital with its daily oxygen generation capacity of 100 cylinders.

The opening ceremony held for the plant at Ndemban Hospital was attended by Dr. Amadou Samateh, Minister of Health of the Gambia; Tolga Bermek, the Republic of Türkiye’s Ambassador to Banjul; Şule Bayar, TİKA’s Coordinator in the Gambia; officials of the Ministry and the Hospital; and representatives of media organizations.

Patients will no longer need to travel to other countries for treatment

In his speech at the ceremony, Dr. Amadou Samateh, Minister of Health of the Gambia, thanked Türkiye and TİKA and stated that they would previously meet the oxygen needs of public hospitals by purchasing oxygen from private companies at a high cost. Minister Samateh noted that the plant will help solve the oxygen shortage in the country and that patients will no longer need to travel to other countries for treatment.

In his speech, Tolga Bermek, the Republic of Türkiye’s Ambassador to Banjul, stated that the relations between the Gambia and Türkiye are getting stronger day by day and that Türkiye is implementing projects in every field in the Gambia through TİKA. Bermek reminded Türkiye’s great support for the Gambia during the COVID-19 pandemic, and stressed the importance of the new oxygen generation plant for the health sector.

Şule Bayar, TİKA’s Coordinator in the Gambia, noted that they were happy to share Türkiye’s technology and experience with the Gambia’s health sector through TİKA.

The Ministry of Health of the Gambia needs to procure oxygen from abroad at a very high cost, since public hospitals in the Gambia do not have an adequate supply of medical oxygen to meet the needs of patients. The plant built by TİKA will save lives by generating oxygen, which is critical in health services, in an economical and sustainable manner under the Ministry of Health of the Gambia.