MRC is marking sixty years in The Gambia with a series of events to commemorate its long standing relationship with the Government and people of The Gambia. The MRC Chief Executive, Professor Colin Blakemore will be visiting the Gambia from 1st to 4th May to participate in a programme of events which includes an Open Day at Fajara for 200 secondary school science students from the Greater Banjul Area and the Western Division; the official opening of the new Clinical Services complex at MRC Fajara; the commissioning of the Hilton Whittle Laboratory and an open forum at the Kairaba Hotel highlighting the Unit’s scientific achievements.

Established in The Gambia in 1947, the MRC is the UK’s single largest investment in medical research in a developing country. The Unit’s research focuses on infectious diseases of immediate concern to The Gambia, with the aim of reducing the burden of illness and death in the country and the developing world as a whole. MRC has been operating in The Gambia for longer than most of the country’s other structures and has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with the host government. Through a longstanding partnership with the Gambian people, via the provision of high quality health care, training and employment opportunities, it has established unparalleled good will with the local population.

Enthusing The Gambia’s Young Scientists
Following on from the successful Open Day programmes at Fajara in May 2006 and Farafenni in March 2007, the Unit will host a similar programme at Fajara on 2nd May, with the aim of exciting young Gambians about science and potential career opportunities at the MRC. The WHO estimates that sub-Saharan Africa needs a million more professional health workers and that 20,000 trained staff are lost every year to emigration. Talented scientists are also being enticed away as a result of the lack of research facilities and career structures in Africa. Strengthening the institutional structure in Africa can only be achieved through strong leadership, good governance and sufficient research funding. And to encourage staff to remain in or return to a well run research environment they must see career development possibilities, access to modern scientific equipment and good opportunities to perform at top level. The Medical Research Council in The Gambia is committed to addressing all of these problems and aims to promote its image as the employer of choice for many young scientists in The Gambia.

Improving healthcare facilities
The opening of the new Clinical Services Department on 3rd May marks the culmination of the largest site development programme at MRC in The Gambia in forty years. The new site signifies a major vote of confidence from MRC UK in the continuation of the Unit’s presence in The Gambia as a sub-regional centre for world class research and excellence in clinical care. The MRC’s Clinical Services Department provides the first point of contact with the Unit for most Gambians; over 100,000 patients were treated in 2006. The 42 bed ward at Fajara provides care for clinical research patients and also the very sick who come to appreciate MRC’s contribution to health care provision in the country. Patients from all parts of The Gambia and neighbouring countries seek medical care at MRC facilities; and staff of some of The Gambia’s NGOs and various international agencies also rely on the Unit’s clinical advice, particularly for medical emergencies.

Upgrading research and diagnostic facilities
On Thursday 3rd May, the new Hilton Whittle Laboratory will be officially commissioned, together with the new Clinical Services Department. The laboratory has been named in honour of MRC The Gambia’s Emeritus Scientist, Professor Hilton Whittle, to mark his outstanding contribution to tropical infectious disease research in The Gambia and West Africa for during the past thirty years.

The routine haematology laboratory, to be opened on 3rd May, is being named after Lamin Kuyateh, a malaria slide reader who has worked with the MRC for fifty years.

Professor Tumani Corrah, MRC Unit Director commenting on MRC’s presence in The Gambia remarked ‘Working in partnership with the Department of State for Health for well over half a century, we have contributed to improving health for millions of people in the developing world through various interventions, including the development of vaccines now routinely used in the national immunisation programmes in Africa. I am convinced that our success in The Gambia is built on a true and dynamic partnership with the Department of State for Health. I hope that this relationship will continue well into the future.’