MTN Ghana Injects GHC200,000.00 Annually to Support Children with Hole-in-heart Conditions

Think Heart, Save A Child Project launched

Accra, May 9, 2018/-MTN Ghana Foundation has partnered Media General Ghana, operators of TV3, 3FM, Onua FM, Connect FM, and others to launch ‘Think Heart, Save a Child’ project, an initiative that seeks to help save the lives of Ghanaian children with hole-in-heart conditions in the country.

Under the partnership, the MTN Ghana Foundation will provide a total of GHC200,000.00 a year to support the surgeries, admissions, and medications for Children from age one to 12 with hole-in-heart conditions at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, in Accra and Akomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi.

Speaking at a ceremony to launch the project at the National Cardiothoracic Centre located at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Acting Corporate Services Executive at MTN Ghana, Samuel Koranteng explained: “This amount shall be disbursed quarterly with an amount of GHC50,000.00 devoted to two children each quarter”.

“The project will be reviewed after each year to ensure that we make the needed impact in the lives of our dear children”, he added.

“We hope that through this intervention, more children with hole in heart conditions will receive the needed medical attention and this support will bring smiles to children and their families and also make their lives a lot brighter”.

MTN Ghana Foundation which is the corporate social responsibility wing of MTN Ghana, a leading telecom giant is partnering 3Foundation under Media General to deliver the project.

On his part, the Head of Corporate Affairs at Media General, Richard Ahiagble stressed that Media General was committed to fulfilling its corporate social responsibility through the ‘Think heart Save a Child’ initiative among other projects initiated by the media group.

He stated: “We hope that lives are saved through this collective effort. This is a call to action to all corporate organizations and the general public to save the lives of children”.

Launching the project, the Deputy Minister of Health, Kingsley Aboagye Gyadu disclosed: “As statistics indicate, more than 7,000 children are born annually with hole-in-heart conditions in Ghana. Many of these children, whose parents are unable to afford the cost of heart surgeries are left to die”.

This he said could not be the situation for a country that values lives and believes that children are the future of this country. We need a broader conversation on how insurance providers in the country can support and cover such cases, Mr Gyadu said.

“This is why this collaboration by 3 Foundation and the MTN Ghana Foundation should be celebrated and emulated by other corporate organisations”, he stated.

“Let this partnership be a call to action to all of us to contribute our quota to support the Think Heart, Save A Child project”.

The Director of the National Cardiothoracic Centre, Dr. Agyemang Siribour thanked MTN Ghana Foundation and 3 Foundation for consistently supporting the centre.

The project, according to him would go a long way to take the burden off parents who sometimes have to resign from their jobs to take care of their children.

Dr. Siribour assured that his outfit would ensure that the efforts of MTN Ghana Found and 3 Foundation do not go in vain.

MTN customers and other benevolent people can also contribute through MTN shortcode 1962 for all networks, while Media General would also use its media channels to solicit funds to help correct hole- in-heart problems of children in the country.

African Eye Report

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