I'm raising £10,000 for a health/medical cause

In the summer of 2024, I contracted a nasty infection and had to be operated on to save my life.

My surgeon was such a lovely man, who told me all about the amazing work he does with the GAM MED charity. In return for the amazing treatment he gave me. I want to help support his efforts in Gambia.

Gambia is the smallest Country within mainland Africa with a Population of 2.3million

It is an extremely poor country, in part, due to a previous dictator. Democracy was reinstated in January 2017 and there remains a stable government in place

Less than half of the population has access to electricity. Over a third of the country's urban population lives in slums

The Gambia spends $81 on healthcare per capita (UK $4620)

The Gambia has 0.1 physicians per 1000 people compared to approx. 3 per 1000 for western countries.

In the Gambia many patients with injuries use traditional medicine and healers.

Fractures are often bound with sticks and can go on to mal-unite resulting in significant permanent deformity.

The resulting deformities would pose a significant orthopaedic challenge to reconstruct the limb in the Western World, let alone in the Gambia.

Previously the provision of Orthopaedic services in the Gambia was provided by Locum Doctors from Cuba. Only basic procedures were undertaken.

In the summer of 2018 Dr. Kebba Marenah was employed as the Country’s first Gambian Orthopaedic Consultant.

Kebba has completed all 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 (Mr James Gibbs & Mrs Lisa Leonard) performed

surgery and taught for a week.

Together they performed over twenty cases during the week, in challenging conditions, with poor resources.

Many of the cases were planned back in the UK and much of the kit needed was taken out having been sourced from donations by hospitals and the medical devices industry.

Out of that trip, Gam Med (Registered UK charity) was formed.

Our mission is to give long-term help and support to Kebba & the team in his ambition to raise the standards of hospital treatment in The Gambia.

We support is with regular outreach trips. Healthcare professionals attend for a week, unpaid and in their own time.

This includes Anaesthetists, Orthopaedic Surgeons, Radiologists, Plastic Surgeons,

Physiotherapists, theatre/nursing staff and a representative from the medical devices industry.

Surgical cases were performed, other treatment is provided along with teaching & training for Gambian Healthcare professionals.