MTN Ghana Foundation has donated 44,000 Personal Protective Equipment, four (4) Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Machines and Test Kits to the National COVID Trust.
The donation which comes at an estimated cost of GHS 5 Million is to enhance the protection of all health personnel in the fight against COVID -19 in the Country and also to support testing-scale and speed. The donation comes at a time when the nation is highly in need of PPEs, test kits and PCR Machines.
Speaking at the presentation, the Board Chairman of the MTN Ghana Foundation, Prof. Franklyn Manu said, “We are aware of the enormity of the challenge the nation is facing due to COVID 19 and the MTN Ghana Foundation Board thought, the best way we could help was to provide PPE for health workers and equipment for testing facilities. Today, we are pleased to donate PPEs and essential medical equipment worth five million Ghana cedis (GHS5 million) as our commitment towards the fight against the pandemic.”
The items comprise the following:
- N95 Masks – 10,000
- PPE Disposable coveralls – 7,500
- PCR Machines – 4
- Gloves – 10,000
- Virus sampling kits 10,000
- RNA Extraction kits – 3,000
- Infrared Thermometers- 500
- Disposal Bedsheets – 3000
Prof. Manu said, “The Foundation received several requests from a number of partner hospitals, but we thought we should provide the bulk of our donation to the National COVID Trust for onward distribution. It is our hope that they will facilitate and further enhance the fight against COVID 19 in the country and keep our health workers, patients, and families safe.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh used the occasion to congratulate the President, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Government for taking the needed measures in managing the spread of the disease in the Country. Adding that, “As a result of government’s interventions, our country has been highly ranked amongst nations who are taking the right measures on the fight against the pandemic.”
He said, “At MTN, we acknowledge that we have a major role to play in this fight against COVID-19 right from the onset, and this continues to be paramount to us. This fight can only be won if we all come together as private organizations working in collaboration with Government on the singular focus of defeating the deadly virus. You can be assured of MTN’s continued commitment to this cause.”
MTN Ghana since the outbreak of the virus has supported Ghanaians with many interventions to lessen the impact of the pandemic on the nation’s socio-economic infrastructure. Key among such interventions include: Collaboration with the National Information Technology Authority (NITA) to offer all Government workers free access to the Smart Workplace Portal to support Government’s work from home program, protecting the customer through the provision of critical health information, providing free internet access to over 200 websites for online education for public and private institutions, free MoMo transfers up to Ghc100 a day and revision of MoMo wallet limits. MTN Ghana also brought to bear its leadership in the technology space by supporting the infection monitoring and contact tracing team through the provision of 800 SIM Cards and 8 Terabytes of data to National Security and 10 TurboNet fixed wireless devices with over 2 terabytes of data to the COVID-19 Response Team for use by contact tracers. MTN has also deployed mobile money merchant accounts as collection conduits to support Government institutions such as the Ministry of Finance and the First Lady’s mobilization fund for COVID-19.
MTN Ghana Foundation will continue to support efforts aimed at mitigating the impact of COVID 19 in Ghana.
The MTN Ghana Foundation was established in November 2007 as the vehicle to select and implement MTN’s Corporate Social Investments. MTN Ghana Foundation has three areas of focus -Health, Education and Economic Empowerment.
From inception to date, the Foundation had undertaken 149 major projects across the country. Notable health projects include: construction of a Neonatal Care Center for Tamale Teaching Hospital, refurbishment of the 2nd floor maternity block of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, construction of a maternity block for Ejisu Government Hospital, and construction of an Emergency Center for Atua Government Hospital.
Education projects undertaken include: construction of a boys dormitory for Akropong School for the Blind, construction of a six-unit classroom block for Kodjonya Millennium School, establishment of 10 MTN ICT Learning Centers in each of Ghana’s 10 regions and the institution of an Innovation Hub at KNUST to promote Telecoms Engineering and Research. Key projects undertaken in Economic Empowerment include: the construction of shea butter processing centers, provision of seed capital and skill training for Women of Tizaa Dini Association of Yendi and the Sung Suma Women Association of Wa