Health Legislation

This Act sets out the rights and responsibilities of children, consolidates the laws relating to children, provides for the care, protection and maintenance of children, establishes a Children’s Court, provides for a criminal justice system for children and other connected purposes.

This Act provides for a sustainable, effective and efficient national statistical system for The Gambia for the collection, production and dissemination of integrated, relevant, reliable, timely statistical information, establishes The Gambia Bureau of Statistics as a supervisory authority for the national statistical system.

This decree grants women free access to caesarean section services provided by public health establishments.

The Decree sets out the statutes of the social public establishment called the “Caisse nationale de sécurité sociale” (National Social Security Fund).

The law creates a social public establishment called the “Caisse nationale de sécurité sociale” (National Social Security Fund). The purpose of the Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale is to manage the various branches of social security set up for workers, such as family benefits; prevention and compensation for occupational accidents and diseases; and old-age, invalidity and survivors' pensions. It is also responsible for managing the health and social action fund. It may also be entrusted with the management of other social security branches.

The Act establishes and regulates a decentralised local government system for the Gambia; it makes provision for the functions, powers and duties of local authorities and for matters connected therewith.

This decree establishes an autonomous fund to receive revenues from the recovery of primary health care costs in each Integrated Health Center. This fund will primarily support the purchase of essential generic drugs and consumables, the purchase of management tools for cost recovery and the payment of managers' salaries.

The Constitution of the Gambia was adopted in 1997. It is the supreme law of the country and consists of 232 articles that are grouped into 23 chapters. The Constitution sets out the values and principles of the state, defines supremacy rules for the law, proclaims fundamental rights and freedoms, establishes key bodies of the state, etc.

The Ordinance provides legislation governing pharmacy. The ordinance regulates the classification of medicines, the registration of medicines, the dispensing of medicines, dietary products, cosmetics, the rules for practicing the profession of pharmacist, the dispensing of medicines by doctors and other aspects.

The decree creates a technical-administrative division known as a health district for towns, departments, arrondissements and communes. The Health District is the local level for the design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of health policy.

The order M°154/MSP/CAB of 29 December 1994 provides the structure and mandate for the Departmental Directorate for Health ("Direction Departementale de la Santé"); this directorate represents the Ministry of Public Health at the level of the department or the urban community and participates in the elaboration, implementation and evaluation of the National Health policy ( providing the competence of the Department Direction for Health). The subdivisions of this directorate include an Executive Secretariat; an Administrative, Financial and Personnel Management Department; a Family Health Service; a Programming and Health Information Department; a Health Education, Hygiene and Sanitation Department; a Health Education, Hygiene and Sanitation Department; a Pharmacy and Laboratory Department.

The Act regulates the profession of nurse and midwife in The Gambia.

The Public Health Act makes provisions for public and environmental health and other matters connected therewith.

This Act makes provision for the establishment of a Medical and Dental Council; for the Registration of Medical and Dental Practitioners; for the discipline of persons registered under the Act and other matters connected therewith.

The Act provides for the establishment of Hospital Management Boards, the charging fees for medical and health services and the regulation of such fees, the regulation of conditions under which private hospitals or other health facilities may be established, and for connected matters.

The law determines which individuals have Nigerien nationality at birth as their nationality of origin. Nigerien nationality is acquired or lost, after birth, by the effect of the present legislation or by decision of the public authority taken under the conditions laid down in this law.

This Act makes provision requiring public corporations, companies, persons and other business enterprises to make financial contributions towards the operation and maintenance of the medical services, and connected matters.

The Act makes provision for the acquisition of citizenship of The Gambia by registration in certain cases; regulates the manner and circumstances in which aliens may naturalised as citizens of The Gambia and in which citizens of The Gambia may renounce or be deprived of their citizenship; and makes provision for certain other matters relating to citizenship of The Gambia.

The Act consolidates and makes better provision for the control of immigration into and residence in The Gambia.

This law establishes an organization for the general litigation of social security matters, to settle disputes arising from the application of social security legislation and regulations, which by their nature do not fall within the scope of any other litigation.