Malang Ndong, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Serrekunda Hospital has expressed what he described as his 'innermost' gratitude to the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and a medical team from that country that has been here since 8 July 2010, to render free medical assistance to Gambians.

CEO Ndong was speaking  last Thursday during a press conference with reporters at his office at the Serrekunda Hospital.According to him, since the Taiwanese medics arrived the country, they have offered free medical care to approximately 400 patients both at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital (RVTH) and the Serrekunda hospital mainly on heart and heart-related conditions, skin and skin-related conditions among others. Since their arrival at the hospital on Wednesday, he said, the team has done extremely well for the patients who were also very cooperative.

He then used the opportunity to announce for the interest of the general public that the Taiwanese medical team will be available at the Serrekunda hospital today and Monday to offer free treatment adding that the hospital is now fully functional. Jiun-Yi Li, the director of Mackay Memorial Hospital (MMH) in Taiwan and head of the medical team said their visit to the RVTH and the Serrekunda hospital has shown that Gambia's medical system is on track and very standard. He observed that although the Serrekunda hospital is a new facility, it needs more doctors in order to meet the high medical care demand.

He disclosed that during the course of the treatment, they had detected four patients who need heart treatment, which can be conducted at the Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taiwan.Yi Li explained that during their treatments, they were using an Echography machine, which is used to examine heart diseases and abdominal problems. The Mackay Memorial Hospital, he went on, has developed a lot and they decided to extend their assistance to people around the world including The Gambia and the Asia Pacific and Caribbean countries.
 
He thanked the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) for their support and under whose request the team was able to visit The Gambia. He also thanked the Gambia government for the warm hospitality accorded them during their stay in the country.