Horizons Trust - Creating Sustainable Healthcare in The Gambia

We take a look at the Horizons Trust, a superb charity initiative hoping to improve the quality of healthcare in The Gambia.

Charity initiatives and clinics are a common theme throughout third world countries. The Gambia is no exception, and there are some fantastic projects and charities throughout the country that are fully committed to improving the lives of the Gambian people. One charity in particular is making great strides in creating and enhancing sustainable healthcare in the country, driven by a twofold vision.

Horizons’ first vision is to provide quality healthcare to those who desperately need it but do not have the financial means to receive it. Together with The Gambia Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, healthcare providers, the World Health Organisation and various other UN agencies, Horizons look to maximise the impact of their activities and to ensure sustainability. Their second vision is centred round building and managing a top quality medical facility for those who can afford private treatment, and then reinvest these profits into the care they give to the poor.

Horizons are already making an impact on healthcare in The Gambia, specifically surrounding childbirth and infant health. So far Horizons’ initiatives include:

• Healthcare training, outreach, and facility upgrades to ensure safe delivery of maternal care with generous funding from Brussels Airlines Bike-for-Africa 2016.
• Training champions of maternal cleanliness (MCCI) in partnership with Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, Jammeh Foundation for Peace Hospital, Fajikunda major Health Centre, Serekunda minor Health Centre, Brikama major Health Centre and Kafuta minor Health Centre.
• Organising in 2014 the first West African Gastroenterology Regional Training to take place in The Gambia in partnership with the British Medical Research Council Unit, Fajara.
• Training health professionals from Western Health Region in partnership with Soapbox Collaborative (registered charity SC043008) and The Gambia Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
• Increasing accountability and transparency through partnering projects.

Horizons have the backing and input of experienced healthcare workers to ensure that their projects and facilities are consistently improving in quality. Dr Melville George is a public health expert and specialist clinician who brings over 55 years of experience of directing health services at national and international level, while Dr Hatib Njie is an obstetrician and gynaecologist and is also renowned for implementing The Gambia’s first Primary Health Care Action Plan and as a Senior Policy Adviser for the World Health Organisation. This high-level expertise is combined with grass roots understanding and setting achievable goals; promising continual progress.

Charity trustee, Professor James N’Dow, is enthusiastic about his involvement with Horizons and vision that the charity has outlined: “I am a proud Gambian. I trained in medicine at Aberdeen and was appointed to the first Chair of Urological Surgery in Aberdeen’s History. Residing in Scotland, I’ve travelled to the Gambia regularly to work in the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital with other UK-trained Consultant surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses without payment. Now I’m taking this charitable work the inevitable next step, founding Horizons to address, sustainably, the challenges of practicing medicine in outreach settings. Horizons is a proud vision of Gambians improving Gambian healthcare through social enterprise.”

Horizons Trust UK gives support to this charitable initiative by providing funding for at-risk mothers, pregnant women and infants under the age of two years. By partnering with Horizons, you can help new mothers overcome the dangers of childbirth by funding training and awareness programmes for midwives, reinforcing a zero tolerance to infection and aiding the general cleanliness of maternity wards, allowing healthcare in The Gambia to take giant leaps forward.

Would you like to contribute to these charitable initiatives in The Gambia? Learn more by visiting the Horizon’s Trust UK website, while for more information regarding The Gambia Experience’s charitable relationships, pay a visit to our Charity and Volunteering page.