FAUSTINA is a two-year old hole-in-heart patient, who lives with her single mother at Agona-Nkwanta in the Western Region. As a result of her deteriorating health condition, Faustina could neither breathe nor eat properly.
She could not play on her own, not to talk about playing with children her age in their compound house. Her mother had come under intense persuasion from her relatives to abandon Faustina, since recovery was nowhere in sight. Instead, there were clear signs of her becoming a liability to her mother.
Faustina’s mum somehow still kept hope alive. Her optimism paid off at the end of the day, when Faustina underwent surgery for free, under the sponsorship of Vodafone. Today, she is in perfect health! She also had another surgery afterwards with help from Dr. Daniel Becker.
.Juliana Opoku of Sene in the Brong Ahafo Region had facial tumour on her eye, whilst 10-year-old Illyass Somda of Kintampo in the same region had a brain tumour.; Both of them are all doing well today thanks, to Vodafone’s ‘HealthLine’ TV show. It turned out that viewers at home who were touched by the life-threatening condition of these patients whilst watching the HealthLine TV series, contributed in their own small way to pay for the surgery costs. All they had to do to support this worthy cause was to donate by texting ‘Give’ to 133 or by dialling *133# and follow the prompts.
In recent times, several large service companies have come under fire for their total disregard for customer needs and experience. The issue of corporate organisations being responsive to society’s needs, aspirations and anxieties is also top on the agenda of civil society groups. Conversely, as service beneficiaries, we conveniently forget to appreciate such companies when they do their work well. Today, I would like to celebrate Vodafone Ghana, the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG) telecommunication company of the year, for the cause it has chosen to champion for society’s good.
When I heard on the news that in addition to winning the CIMG telecommunications company of the year, Vodafone’s HealthLine had also won the Television Programme of the year for the third consecutive time, I was not in the least surprised. In my opinion, Vodafone HealthLine TV series has carved a niche for itself as a revolutionary television show that addresses the health concerns of Ghanaians through a combination of education and entertainment.
Since its inception in around 2011, HealthLine has catered for the full cost of surgeries for many Ghanaians who cannot afford to pay for their medical bills, as well as educating, informing and demystifying myths on various health related conditions. As an avid viewer of this programme, the depth and breadth of issues discussed during each episode never ceases to amaze me. So does the spiral of selflessness that it generates.
Quite apart from these free surgeries, it is refreshing to learn that Vodafone Ghana has brought smiles to hundreds of homes and communities across the country through education on Sickle Cell, Asthma, Ebola, Cholera and other health conditions which many thought were spiritual attacks. Over time, Healthline has stepped up to educate Ghanaians on myths about sex, heatstroke, HIV-AIDS, breast cancer among others, and how to keep healthy generally.
Following on the success of the Healthline TV series, Vodafone developed a lot more appetite to confront the health conditions affecting Ghanaians and launched yet another initiative called HealthLine 255. This is a Medical Call Centre run by doctors and nurses.
I am told it is powered by the world’s best triage system that guarantees accurate medical service to Vodafone customers in Ghana and non-customers alike (by dialing 0505050500).. This good news means that regardless of where the caller is, he or she can reach the call centre on phone and have a chat with a medical staff. Now, tell me if that is not comforting news? I even heard in the news that Upper East, Upper West, Northern, Accra and Ashanti are among the regions that are currently frequenting Healthline 255 with calls.
A friend also told me that Vodafone thought the platforms of HealthLine and HealthLine 255 could be expanded to be able to better accommodate the health needs of Ghanaians. The telecommunications company of the year therefore has launched the HealthLine App, a software application that provides real-time health information on smart phones and tablets.
The interactive app, which has been developed for all mobile networks, is available for Android phones and tablets and provides tips and facts on health conditions including HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Retinal Migraines and Acne among others. Additionally, the app keeps users up-to-date on the award-winning television programme ‘HealthLine’, viewing times, profiles of the doctors and access to videos.
With all the perception of how easy it is for telecommunication companies to ‘steal’ your credit, and how network challenges can make you lose your cool, I guess you now understand why the testimonies of HealthLine is making me sing the company’s praise. Vodafone – Power to you!
Global Media Alliance
