Westfield Clinic Receive Grant of 73,314 Euros from the Japanese Gov’t

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The event held on 10th March, 2015 at the clinic situated at Westfield junction was presided over by Ms Akiko Takano, the first Secretary at the Japanese Embassy in Dakar. The Japanese government’s representative said her country intends through this cooperation to help the clinic to adjust its equipment to deal with common causes of illness and death. She said the support is implemented within the framework of the Japanese Grant Assistance for Grass-Roots Human Security Projects, which is designed to support community-based initiatives addressing various development issues, mainly basic human needs. Ms Tankano added, ‘the signed contract allows the Westfield Clinic to receive 73,314 Euros assigned to the purchase of medical equipment, including a hematology analyzer and electrolyte analyzer, a clinical chemistry analyser, an ultrasound scanner, a microscope and a generator.’ She said good health is evidently one of the pillars of Human Security. ‘This project, would secure improved access to essential non-communicable diseases diagnostics service, especially by enabling a variety of blood tests, which would provide a timely and reliable medical treatment. The completion of this project, would help the clinic achieve its very important mission of relieving people’s suffering,’ she said. She described the relationship as a true symbol of friendship and solidarity, which expresses Japanese people’s wish and would contribute to the enhancement of the Gambian people’s welfare. Speaking on behalf of the board of trustees of the Westfield Clinic, the Chairman of the board Mr. Sheriff Tambedou described the agreement as a major milestone in the history of the clinic for the fact that it is the first of such nature with an external government. He said they have been receiving calls from the society for a higher quality of health care and the rising number of patients suffering from chronic and non-communicable diseases. He added that they want to respond to such issues to save lives and prevent premature deaths but since then financial assistance has been the problem as the clinic is a charity and depends on donations. ‘It was timely that we became aware of the existence of Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project which supports local non profit organisations to implement small scale projects that directly benefit communities and contribute to the socio-economic development of a country. We are happy that with this assistance we can now improve on the routine access to diagonistic investigations that can be done rapidly at the bedside or in the out patient clinic,’ said Mr Tambedou. He disclosed that the fund will be used to buy medical equipment to provide a range of tests to enable quick and easy on the spot testing for diagnoses and monitoring of infections and non communicable diseases. He said they also intend to buy a portable ultra-sound scanner to improve the accuracy of diagnoses. The equipment that will be purchased will help the staff to quickly assess sick patients, improve the quality of emergency care offered to them and monitor those non-communicable diseases better. He concluded by assuring the partners that the equipment will be well cared for.]]>