Accra, Ghana, May 19, 2020//-MTN Ghana Foundation has strengthened the work of Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) of the University of Ghana to enable the country’s Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing, contact tracing and research frontliner combat the ravaging pandemic.
To this end, the Foundation which is the corporate social responsibility arm of MTN Ghana, has donated office equipment worth over GHC42,000 to the Institute at a short ceremony in Accra.
The equipment which were donated at the request of the NMIMR included five brand new HP laptops, two all one Lenovo desktop, Dell server, a colour printer, and a black and white printer.
Presenting the equipment to the management and staff of the Institute, the Corporate Services Executive of MTN Ghana, Samuel Koranteng was pleased on behalf of MTN Ghana Foundation, to make the intervention that was badly needed to sustain the facility in the fight against the COVID-19.
He said: “A couple of weeks ago, the MTN Ghana Foundation received a request from the Institute to support with acquisition of some equipment to help meet growing demand in records taking, storage and management of essential COVID 19 data and quick release of test results”.
Having acknowledged the role, the Institute plays in National research and particularly in the COVID-19 pandemic, the MTN Ghana Foundation board immediately approved the purchase of these equipment to facilitate their work, Mr Koranteng who led his team of staff to the Institute, added.
“It is our hope that these equipment will facilitate and further enhance the good work that you are doing here at the Institute”.
He assured that MTN Ghana would continue to pledge its support in this fight against the “pandemic that has changed our lives”.
Immediately COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, MTN Ghana moved swiftly to put in place measures to help curb the spread of COVID-19 in Ghana. These key measures Mr Koranteng mentioned include the positioning of alcohol base sanitizers at vantage points across branches and experience service centres for use by customers and employees; and the deployment and the use of guns and personal protective equipment (PPE).
Additionally, MTN Ghana has also zero rated over 178 educational online sites for the benefit of students and to promote research and learning during the period.
“Beyond these, MTN Ghana has set up and activated short code 199 for the Ghana Health Service to assist with enquiries and complaints from Ghanaians on COVID 19. In the same vein, the business has also provided short codes and numbers for the Ministry of Information to be used for social media services at the 311 information centres”.
MTN Ghana has also brought to bear its leadership in the technology space by supporting the infection monitoring and contact tracing team based on the requisite legal procedures.
To support this further, MTN Ghana initiated the provision of 800 SIM Cards with 10GB data on each card to National Security and 10 Turbonet devices with 225GB data to COVID-19 RESPONSE Team for use by contact tracers”, Mr Koranteng said.
The MTN Foundation is also procuring medical supplies at the cost of GHS 5million Ghana to support the Government of Ghana’s fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
The medical supplies include PPE and other essentials required for the fight against the COVID-19.
The telecoms company encouraged all Ghanaians to continue to observe the guidelines by wearing facemasks where necessary, washing and sanitizing your hands regularly and practice social distancing.
Receiving the equipment, the Director of NMIMR, Professor Abraham Kwabena Anang, thanked the management of MTN Ghana for responding swiftly to their demand.
“Since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country, MTN Ghana has been very supportive”.
He also used the occasion to appeal to the company to support them with internet data to enable them cut the cost of internet usage in the facility. The company responded by saying that data and voice packages for all health workers are being worked on.
At time of this publication, Ghana has recorded 5,735 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 29 deaths, while 1,754 patients have so far recovered from the deadly disease, according to statistics from the Ghana Health Service.
African Eye Report
