TİKA Contributes to Increasing the Emergency Medicine Capacity of The Gambia

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) held the Introduction to Emergency Response Training (ADG+) for Gambian healthcare providers in cooperation with the Ministries of Health of the Republic of Turkey and the Republic of The Gambia, as part of the Emergency Medicine Capacity Building Program (ATKAP).

As part of the project, 38 Gambian healthcare providers selected by the Ministry of Health of The Gambia attended the training courses titled Introduction to Emergency Response (ADG+), provided by physicians and paramedics from Turkey in Banjul, the capital of The Gambia, for 5 days.

During these courses, trainers provided extensive theoretical and applied training on emergency scene management, emergency response, trauma-informed approaches, techniques for moving patients, teamwork, disaster management, post-disaster infection assessment, triage, hospital planning during disasters, and emergency department management. At the end of the training, participants who successfully completed the training were awarded certificates.

The certificate presentation ceremony was attended by Mehmet Akif Eyigün, TİKA’s Banjul Program Coordinator; Yusuf Irmak, Head of Relations with International Organizations at the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey; and Dr. Abubacarr Jagne, Head of COVID-19 Case Management of The Gambia.

In his speech, Mehmet Akif Eyigün, TİKA’s Banjul Program Coordinator, stated that TİKA has implemented many health projects in The Gambia and that they were planning to build oxygen plants in hospitals in The Gambia in cooperation with the Ministry of Health of The Gambia. He thanked the trainers, trainees, and stakeholders who participated in the Introduction to Emergency Response Training (ADG+). Yusuf Irmak, Head of Relations with International Organizations at the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey, noted that the training was very productive, and thanked TİKA for organizing the training and the Ministry of Health of The Gambia for its cooperation. In his speech, Dr. Abubacarr JAGNE, Head of COVID-19 Case Management of The Gambia, stated that they wanted to establish national emergency units across The Gambia, that TİKA’s Introduction to Emergency Response Training (ADG+) was very important for them for this reason, and that the healthcare providers who attended these courses would be assigned to the emergency units to be established. He also expressed his gratitude to the Republic of Turkey for the project.

In the next phase of the project, prospective trainers to be selected among Gambian trainees will attend advanced courses in Turkey to strengthen the local trainer capacity and will train other healthcare providers in The Gambia.

As part of the Emergency Medicine Capacity Building Program (ATKAP), TİKA has held the Introduction to Emergency Response Training (ADG+) in Sudan, Djibouti, Chad, Somalia, Guinea, Niger, and The Gambia since 2017. The Agency aims to continue to organize these courses in various other countries.