Accra, Ghana//-Many years of sustained investments by MTN Ghana in the country’s health sector are transforming many lives.
This follows the drastic reduction of maternal mortality rates, improved deliveries, among others in most of the health facilities invested in by the telecoms giant.
For instance, MTN Ghana’s humanitarian intervention has contributed significantly to the drastic reduction of maternal mortality rates in the Tema metropolis of the Greater Accra Region, according to senior officials of Tema General Hospital.
The Principal Nursing Officer in-charge of the Labour Ward at the Tema General Hospital, Madam Joana Boakye said between January to June 2021, maternal mortality cases in the hospital had reduced significantly to eight deaths compared with 13 deaths within the same period last year.
Madam Boakye however noted that previously maternal mortality cases in the hospital were too scary hitting over 50s in half years.
Out of the thousand deliveries, she was confident that by the close of the year, the cases would further drop to the lowest number.
Waiting time reduced
The Obstetrician and Gynaecologist of the Tema General Hospital, Dr Sylvia Deganu added that waiting time of expectant mothers who visited the hospital had reduced to zero since they moved into the state-of-the-art maternity ward.
Previously, some expectant mothers used to wait for three to five days before they could get beds to deliver, Dr Deganu said.
The ward has improved the health of the newborn babies and their mothers due to the proper ventilation of the “magnificent build MTN handed over to us a year ago”, she explained.
Not only the structure but the equipment also help to improve deliveries as well as improving expectant mother visits to the hospital, she stated.
The maternity ward of the hospital is the second best after the newly built Ridge Hospital in Accra which is renamed as the Greater Accra Regional Hospital.
The Tema General Hospital is the third largest in Ghana after Komfo Anokye and Korle Bu teaching hospitals. As regards deliveries in 2017 alone, the hospital delivered over 7,000 babies.
Records indicate that over 22,261 pregnant women visited the hospital in 2017 and this is why the previous maternity ward with 10 beds could not cater for the increasing number of patients who came to the hospital.
MTN Ghana Foundation’s decision to build the maternity block for the Tema General Hospital was triggered by media reports which highlighted the struggle that hospitals like Tema General Hospital face”.
Subsequently, the Foundation team followed up and confirmed the need with the hospital authorities after which a proposal was submitted to the MTN Ghana Foundation board for consideration.
The project finally commenced on the 9th November 2016 and in the space of one and half years, the facility was completed and handed over to the hospital authorities on 20th July 2018.
The Foundation built the plush maternity block from scratch at the cost of about 5.5 million Ghana cedis which serves over 22,000 women in Tema and its environs annually.
The state-of-the-art maternity facility which was one of the legacy projects to commemorate MTN Ghana’s 20th anniversary, comprised a 40-bed first stage ward, a bed lying-in ward, delivery beds, one theatre, two consulting rooms, two doctors’ offices, nurse office, nurse station and changing rooms, kitchen, among others.
Improved deliveries
The Foundation in 2009 refurbished the second floor of the maternity ward of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and stocked the ward with medical equipment at the request of the Women’s Caucus in Parliament.
The Foundation’s Board at the time approved $600,000 for the refurbishment during which 11 delivery rooms, a theatre and a recovery ward, doctors’ restrooms, and a changing room were refurbished.
The hospital revealed that since the facility was refurbished, over 26,919 babies have been delivered in that unit.
Additionally, Foundation also donated medical equipment valued at GH¢129,500 to the maternity unit of the hospital to help improve healthcare.
The items include eight mobile examination lamps, Radiant warmers, 12 instrument trolleys six multifunction delivery beds, suction machines.
In 2015, MTN Ghana and its technology partner Huawei partnered to inaugurate a 40-bed ultra-modern Neonatal and Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Tamale Teaching Hospital to help provide quality health care to babies.
The facility was fully equipped with a 25-seater conference room and a resource centre, offices for staff, pharmacy, store-rooms, two incubator rooms and kitchen for storing breast milk.
The GH¢405,000 facility was funded by the MTN Ghana Foundation, which provided GH¢335,000, with Huawei Technologies providing GH¢70,000.
The telecoms company recognised the critical role of a neonatal centre in reducing child mortality and “this is the main reason the Board of Directors of the MTN Ghana Foundation approved this project”.
The new NICU would provide quality care for the over 1,500 neonates and their mothers admitted annually to the unit, according to authorities of the hospital.
The facility also would go a long way to help TTH achieve its vision of becoming a centre of excellence in the provision of quality tertiary healthcare, medical education and research.
The facility is crucial, considering the impact it would have on mothers, babies and members of the entire savannah region. The provision of this essential centre will relieve the anxiety of the parents and health professionals who have to care for pre-term babies.
Additionally, MTN Ghana has adopted the provision of healthcare as a key focus area because of the considerable evidence that there is a relationship between poverty and inadequate health care.
Surgeries
Furthermore, the Foundation teamed up with the Ghana Cleft Foundation to assist patients with cleft disorders to receive free surgeries, while 116 health professionals were trained in the management of cleft lip and palate disorders.
While several Ghanaians who are in need of blood transfusion have benefited from the Foundation’s activities due to annual blood donation exercises that have contributed over 14,000 pints of blood to the National Blood Bank and other blood banks of other health institutions across the country.
The initiative which started in 2011 was in response to calls made by the National Blood Service for voluntary contributions to replenish critically low stocks of blood.
In recognition of its efforts, the MTN Ghana Foundation was adjudged the highest corporate blood donor in 2013, second highest corporate donor in 2014 and one of the highest corporate donors in 2015.
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh said: “We at MTN, through the MTN Ghana Foundation, continue to invest in our communities especially in these uncertain times.
Since inception, the Foundation has invested in 87 educational projects, 52 health projects and 13 economic empowerment projects, at a cost of GH¢53.3 million”.
Since its establishment in 2007, the Foundation has executed 52 health projects, as well as numerous smaller initiatives in various communities to brighten lives in all 16 regions of Ghana.
Health is one of three focus areas of the Foundation, and its project selection criteria according to senior officials of the Foundation, is aligned to the achievement of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), should reflect the real needs of the community, and sustainability.
Besides the provision of these health facilities, health equipment, blood donations, distribution of mosquito nets and payment of surgeries of the vulnerables, the Foundation also provided potable water for communities by funding the drilling of boreholes, thereby helping to prevent water-borne diseases.
MTN Ghana Foundation’s support has heightened the need for businesses around the world to make sustainability a key focus.
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report
