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Public health and Covid-19 in the Gambia

Healthcare in the Gambia

Healthcare in the Gambia is slightly below average in a worldwide comparison.

Probably the most important indicator that can be used to summarize the efficiency of all measures is general life expectancy. In other words, the theoretical age that a newborn child could potentially reach today. At the moment, this age in the Gambia is 60.7 years for men and 63.5 years for women. For comparison: worldwide life expectancy is about 9.3 years lower (men: 68.9 / women: 73.9 years).

A total of 18.58 USD per inhabitant is spent annually on health measures at state expense. This corresponds to approximately 2.6 percent of the gross domestic product. Internationally, this amount averages 1,177.15 USD (~ 10.9% of the respective GDP).


Back to overview: Gambia


Spread of COVID-19 in the Gambia

Since the beginning of the pandemic until June 7th, 2023, a total of 12,626 infected people and 372 deaths have been reported in the Gambia.

The total of 12,626 infected people currently represents 0.52 percent of the total population.

Current vaccination status

According to official WHO data, a total of 1.44 million vaccine doses have been administered as of March 19th, 2023. More recent data are not yet available to WHO. There are 674,314 people who have received at least one vaccination (27.9 percent). The booster vaccination was received by 53,741 people (2.2 percent).

539,186 of these are considered fully vaccinated in the Gambia (= 22.3 percent).
This means that Gambia is one of the countries with the worst vaccination coverage in the world.The vaccination rate is higher in 205 countries.

Weight and size

MaleFemale
Body height168 cm161 cm
BMI23.424.5
Weight65.8 kg63.8 kg

Diseases

GambiaØ worldwide
Diabetes *1.90%8.81%
Tuberculosis1.49‰1.34‰
Malaria6.6%5.7%
HIV / Aids0.14%0.03%

* The number of people suffering from diabetes refers only to inhabitants aged between 20 and 79 years.


Child vaccinations

GambiaØ worldwide
Measles79.0%81.7%
Hepatitis B0.08%0.08%
Tetanus9.5%0.0%
DTP *8.20%8.14%

* DTP is a combined basic vaccination against diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus, which should be given to children up to the age of 23 months.

In the Gambia, 11.1 percent of all over 15-year-olds are still smokers.


Medical supplies

Public health and Covid-19 in the GambiaMedical care provided by doctors and hospitals in the Gambia is below average compared to the world population. The country provides 1.1 hospital beds per 1,000 inhabitants. The global mean here is 2.9 beds. Within the EU, 4.6 beds are available for every 1,000 residents.

With about 284 physicians in the Gambia, there are about 0.11 doctors per 1000 inhabitants. Here again the comparison: worldwide this standard is 1.50 physicians per 1,000 inhabitants and in the EU is 3.57.

Through medical care, the mortality rate of major known diseases can be reduced as far as possible. For example, only about 21 percent of all people who suffer from cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases or chylomicron retention disease (CRD) currently die.

Drinking water supply

Explanation of the graph:
Red line: access to water supply via wells or delivered drinking water
Green bars: Permanent access to running and tested drinking water connection


Only around 45 percent of the population has access to an immediately available running water supply. At least via springs and wells within a maximum distance of 30 minutes or supplied water, 81 peprcent of the population is supplied with largely clean drinking water. In a global comparison, only about 74 percent of the population has direct access to tested and always available drinking water. Within the European Union, this share is 98 percent. Only in a few countries does the proportion fall below 10 percent.

Sources

The above data correspond to the information from the World Health Organization, Global Health Workforce Statistics, UNICEF, State of the World's Children, Childinfo, Global Health Observatory Data Repository and OECD. The case numbers for the spread of the COVID-19 come from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Comparison: average ageAverage age by countryRising average age worldwide: since 1950 alone, more than 4 years. A list by country.
Comparison: Life expectancyAverage life expectancy by countryInternational ranking of life expectancy in 119 countries including summary by continents. Explanation of significant factors.
Comparison: quality of lifeQuality of life 2023 in country comparisonCompare the quality of life around the globe: In which countries is life pleasant, safe and healthy?