Health watch. Your health is in your hands. Levels of health awareness in the country are very low across the Gambian population, educated and uneducated, young and old, urban or rural areas. People do not generally understand how the human body works or the natural causes of diseases.
This affects their health behavior and health seeking behavior. Generally the more knowledgeable people about their health, the healthier the population, the more prosperous.
Aims and objectives of health watch. The main aim of the program is to give the general Gambian population insight about how their body works and how illnesses affect their body. This is to equip them with the knowledge to prevent diseases when possible and to seek treatment knowing what to expect from the health program.
The objectives are to educate the population on
1) Normal functioning of the body.
2) Symptoms and signs of various diseases.
3) When to seek treatment.
4) What to expect when they seek treatment.
5) What is expected as patients?
This program will attempt to give information on simple terms using everyday situations and examples to help people receive and retain as much information as possible. This program does not aim to give in medical knowledge of diseases required to help providers and cannot serve as an alternative to going to the hospital.
It only aims to the basic knowledge for the understanding of one’s health and how to seek treatment.