Dr. Mamadou Tangara on Wednesday 30 June 2021 addressed India Global Leaders Forum 2021.
Foreign Minister Tangara was invited by the Global Leadership to give an African perspective on issues bordering on COVID-19 and the recovery process, the friendly bilateral relations between The Gambia and the Republic of India and how the global tourism industry can be revived in the face of an ongoing global pandemic, the foreign ministry said in a news release on Thursday.
The release said: “Commenting on measures taken by The Gambia in containing the pandemic and protecting its economy, Dr. Tangara said the government cut all travels and used those funds to buy ambulances and other medical equipment for health workers.
“He said negotiations were held with bilateral partners for the country to access vaccines with 10,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine donated by the President of the Republic of Senegal to his brother President Adama Barrow and later, AstraZeneca vaccine was also received.
“The Honourable Minister indicated that the challenge the government had was to convince people to take the vaccine. The government, he added, resorted to a massive sensitisation campaign which made great impact because it significantly reduced the vaccine hesitancy.
“Minister Tangara told the Global Leaders Forum that The Gambia does not have adequate vaccines to give second doses to the teeming number of people that have had the first shot.
“The Honourable Minister also emphasised the importance of global solidarity in this phase of the pandemic by helping countries with little or no vaccine to access it.
“On the bilateral ties with India, Honourable Tangara extolled the excellent bilateral relations The Gambia has with India in the past decades and how India is one of Gambia’s strongest partners.”
