By Ramatoulie Jawo
Fantanka a women-led civil society organization that advocates for sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender rights, and the rights of marginalized groups in The Gambia on Wednesday, December 21, 2021, held a health fair at the NAYCONF grounds in Banjul.
The day-long event was conducted in collaboration with healthcare professionals, social workers, and lawyers who offer various healthcare and information service including sexual and reproductive health.
The organization provides mental health and psychosocial support for victims of human rights violations such as Sexual Gender Base Violence (SGBV) and extrajudicial killings.
“The fact that we have more than two thousand young people gathering and in the Gambia, we have realized that it is very hard to see people go for checkups to know their sugar level, weight, and other health status. So we deem it very necessary to always bring health fair to make sure we have all of this accessible to the young people for them to do health check-ups because it is very important,” a member of the NAYCONF Gender committee, Fatima Zahra Jarjur, said.
She added that many young people in the country are not privileged to do health check-ups or have access to the places;
“We also have a component where contraceptives are been given. These are contraceptives that prevent people from catching infections, for example, HIV and other STIs. So the purpose is to make sure the young people are safe, to know their health status and they will be able to protect themselves,” she disclosed.
She added that “Some of the young people are here, they have never checked how much they weigh, they did not know their height, so this space is very important for them.
A Delegate at the NAYCONF, Fatou Sanneh, said the health fair provides an avenue for the attendees to learn about their health.
“We know that sometimes in certain communities, there is not the same access to education about health care, so with this health fair, it will help us to know our health status,” she said.