By Stanley Senya
Accra, March 16, GNA – MTN Ghana Foundation has been recognised for the significant contributions the Foundation made in the fight against COVID-19 at the 2023 National Honors and Awards.
MTN Ghana Foundation received a plaque and a certificate for Distinguished Service – Platinum Category.
A statement issued in Accra said the award was received on behalf of the Foundation by Mr Selorm Adadevoh, the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana.
Presenting the awards, the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, expressed appreciation to the many individuals and organizations, who distinguished themselves in their various fields of endeavour and the many individuals, whose remarkable resilience, invaluable contributions, interventions, and responsiveness helped to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Presidential Award was in recognition of MTN Ghana’s significant support to the National COVID-19 Trust Fund and for being one of the highest contributors to the fund.
It said contributions by the Foundation to the fund helped the government to procure PPE for medical facilities, provide funding support for the promotion and facilitation of research and innovation on COVID-19 and provided support to nearly 8,000 identified needy and vulnerable persons and to other social interventions initiatives across the country.
Other awardees included frontline workers, Board & Trustees of the National COVID-19 Trust Fund, Institutions and Faith-based organizations, Members of the Private Sector Support Fund, International Partners among others.
The statement said MTN was one of the organizations, at the forefront of supporting the fight against the pandemic through various initiatives as well as donations to government, health facilities, schools across the country.
In 2021, MTN through the MTN Ghana Foundation contributed GHS 10 million to the National COVID-19 Trust Fund to complement government’s efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
This included GHS 5 million cash and GHS 5million worth of PPE like masks, overalls, hand gloves, four sets of PCR machines and virus sampling kits.
Other items included RNA extraction kits, thermometer guns and disposable cups which were distributed to various hospitals, special isolation and care management centres, health centres, CHPS compounds and medical facilities across the country.
The Foundation also presented office equipment valued at GHS 42,000 to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research to aid in COVID-19 testing and case management in 2020.
It also presented PPE worth millions of cedis to various secondary schools, traditional councils as well as regional hospitals across the country.
MTN also introduced several interventions and several initiatives to safeguard its employees and customers nationwide.
It launched a series of educational and awareness campaigns to sensitize the public on COVID-19 and measures to stay safe. MTN also boosted network services to aid in work from home, online learning (zero rated browsing sites), and other digital interventions to aid in business continuity, social interactions among others.
GNA