Tourism is one of the Gambia’s major foreign exchange earners. What is the impact of this flourishing industry on the health of the nation? The tiny West African Country is one of the world’s topmost sex tourism destinations and this has widespread implications in terms of child sex abuse, the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS.

The legislature has been taking steps to curb the menace of child sex abuse aggravated by the tourism industry. There have been some well publicized trials of child sex offenders, and the representatives of the countries of origin of some offenders have been supportive in certain ways.

Tourism and Sexually Transmitted Diseases The issue of the spread of sexually transmitted infections including the deadly and untreatable HIV/AIDS is a bit more delicate. Thousands of female sex tourists in particular flock the Gambia each year, the target being the “tourist guides” or “bumsters” as they were commonly known who can be seen on the countries neat beaches on any given day. The question as to the direction of spread of such infections, whether it is from the “bumster” to the tourist or vice versa in most cases is anybody’s guess. The important detail is that other potential partners of both parties will be at the receiving end in the long run.

According to World Bank statistics, the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the sexually active adult population was 2.4% in 2005.This estimate may or may not be less than the actual rate given the fact that the Gambia is a conservative society where people tend to shy away from HIV testing.

Tourism might also have an impact on food safety. The majority of rural folk in the Gambia are farmers. Most of them depend on family members to help on the farm, especially the young and able-bodied males. There has been a significant rural urban drift in recent years. Most youngsters want to be close to the city area, and the bulk of them have their eyes set on leaving the country in search of greener pastures. Some of these young men do end up at the beach in an attempt to woo female tourists into taking them back to their home countries. The rural urban drift has had a significant impact on the country’s groundnut exports. Groundnut is the Gambia’s main cash crop.