Welcome to Gam Med
(The Gambia Medical UK Partnership)

The Gambia lies on the coast of West Africa. It is the smallest country in mainland Africa and has a population of 2.4million. It ranks among the poorest countries in the world with a Gross National Income per capita of less than $1,500. Less than half of The Gambia's population has access to electricity, and over a third of the country's urban population lives in slums.

3% of GDP is spent on healthcare compared to approximately 10% in Western Countries. There is a shortage of healthcare professionals. The Gambia has 0.1 physicians per 1000 people compared to approx. 3 per 1000 for western countries, one of the worst rates in the world. Because of the limitation of physicians people often seek treatment from Traditional Healers. This often leads to poor outcomes for patients.

​

In the summer of 2018 Dr. Kebba Marenah was employed as the Country’s first Gambian Orthopaedic Consultant. Kebba completed all of his medical training in the UK including his Orthopaedic Registrar training in Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

​

In February 2018 Kebba lead the Orthopaedic arm of the West African College of Surgeons Outreach Programme to the Gambia. He, and two Orthopaedic Consultants from Brighton (Mr James Gibbs & Mrs Lisa Leonard) performed surgery and taught in EFSTH for a week. 

​

Out of that trip, Gam Med was formed. The idea being that UK healthcare professionals would continue to give long-term help and support to Kebba in his ambition to raise the standards of hospital treatment in The Gambia.

One way is to continue outreach trips. We send regular teams of healthcare professionals unpaid and in their own time. This includes Anaesthetists, Orthopaedic Surgeons, Radiologists, Plastic Surgeons, Physiotherapists and representatives from the medical devices industry. Surgical cases are performed and teaching & training provided.

​

We also source & ship medical equipment. Most of this is donated by UK hospitals.

​

​

​

​