Wa, Sept. 12, GNA – MTN Ghana Foundation has presented a total of 5,700 pieces of face masks to the management of the Upper West Regional Hospital in Wa and the St. Joseph Hospital in Jirapa.
The management of the Regional Hospital took delivery of 3,000 pieces whilst the remaining 2,700 were presented to the Jirapa St. Joseph Hospital.
The gesture is to help workers of the two facilities reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19 whilst on duty.
Mr Kofi Owusu, MTN Upper West Manager, who presented the items to the management of the two hospitals in Wa and Jirapa, commended all health workers for their dedication in the fight against COVID-19.
“When the first case was recorded in Ghana, many of us were consumed with fear and uncertainty; we were not sure how things will turn out and how you will cope with the situation,” he said.
“As tough as the circumstances have been, our health workers have been up to the task in the fight against the deadly virus,” he added.
Mr Owusu noted that during the pandemic, MTN made several interventions across the country based on the belief that all hands must be on deck to control the spread of the virus.
He said key among the intervention was the over 44,000 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and PCR Machines presented to the National COVID-19 Trust Fund.
MTN also provided essential equipment to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research to promote rapid testing and data processing.
We have not only invested in these PPEs which were worth five million Ghana Cedis but also investing in behavioural change programmes.
In line with this, we recently launched the “Wear it for Me” and “BE WISE” campaigns which seek to raise awareness about the importance of face masks in the fight against the virus.
“At MTN, we believe that we have a major role to play in the fight against COVID-19 right from the onset, and this continued to be paramount to us.
We continue to encourage all Ghanaians to adhere strictly to all the safety protocols issues by local and global authorities in fighting the pandemic.”
Dr Robert Amesiya, the Medical Director of the Upper West Regional Hospital thanked the MTN Ghana Foundation for the support, adding that the COVID-19 fight was not yet over and that they still needed the PPE to help fight the pandemic.
“If we don’t continue the fight, we may just go back to the initial stages that the pandemic was ravaging everyone,” he said.
Mr Cosmas Beyuo, the Administrator of the Jirapa St. Joseph Hospital, said 210-bed capacity facility offered close of 50,000 Out Patient Department cases a year.
He, therefore, thanked MTN for the donation, adding that it would go a long way to help the hospital in the fight against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
GNA