EU donates Ambulances and other health equipment to The Gambia Red Cross

Banjul, 3 June 2021

The EU hands over two ambulances and equipment in fight against Covid-19 to the Gambian Red Cross Society

Today, on June 3rd, 2021, the EU funded project “Support the public health and socioeconomic systems to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in The Gambia”, has received two fully– equipped ambulances and other vehicles. They will have a paramount role in the continuous fight against Covid-19. This will also upgrade the medical services in the country after the crisis. Furthermore, the two pick-up cars and eight motorbikes will ensure that people even in smaller communities across The Gambia can benefit from this EU project.

The Project is being implemented by the Spanish Red Cross together with the Gambian Red Cross Society and MRC. The total budget is 2.5 million euros over the period of 24 months. The project provides diverse support to the Ministry of Health. Objectives also include improving the livelihoods of vulnerable families and ensuring safe and dignified burials.

Last year, when the pandemic started, in addition to the EU funded Covid-19 project, The European Union also immediately frontloaded and amplified its budget support operations to the country disbursing more than 4 billion GMD (34 million EUR) in a few months. This has been used to support the Government’s Covid-19 response plan.

In his speech, the EU Ambassador Corrado Pampaloni encouraged everyone to continue observing the practices of washing hands, using masks and social distancing as well asgetting vaccinated when possible. In the words of the Ambassador: “The fight is not over but there will be an “after-covid”. This is what we are building right now. The more stringent we will be about our efforts, the faster the country will recover, the faster the world will recover. Rest assured that Team Europe remains committed to work side by side in this fight against this pandemic.”