Vodafone Ghana has marked International Workers’ Day with a donation of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and medical supplies to three hospitals as part of efforts to protect and celebrate the country’s brave frontline health workers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

The items donated include sets of protective gowns with shoe covers, face shields, boxes of N95 face masks, surgical gloves, thermometer guns, hand sanitizers, gallons of rubbing alcohol and bleach, boxes of surface wipes and bin liners.

The three hospitals are Ga East Municipal Hospital in the Greater Accra Region; Atua Government Hospital in the Eastern Region; and Greater Kumasi Regional Hospital in the Ashanti Region.

Speaking during the presentation at the Ga East Municipal Hospital, Geta Striggner-Quartey, Director for Legal and External Affairs, said:
"We value the priceless role of the country’s frontliners in battling the rapidly evolving coronavirus."

"They are our superheroes and we deemed it important to equip them with PPE and essential medical supplies whilst celebrating their selfless good deeds this Workers’ Day. This is one of our many initiatives aimed at helping the country combat this global pandemic."

The three health institutions are leading the treatment of COVID-19 in the Greater Accra, Eastern and Ashanti Regions.

Receiving the items, the Medical Superintendent at the Ga East Municipal Hospital, Dr Ebenezer Oduro-Mensah, expressed the Hospital’s appreciation to Vodafone for the support and commended the company for introducing innovative initiatives that are helping the country fight the pandemic.

Vodafone Ghana Foundation has also opened its pioneering Healthline Medical Call Centre to help provide guidance and dispel the misinformation out there about COVID-19.

The Centre is open daily from 8am to 8pm and can be accessed for free by simply dialling 255 from any Vodafone or MTN number. Fifty medical doctors who have been trained in partnership with the Ghana Health Service to offer expert advice on the pandemic operate the centre.

Additionally, the Foundation’s Big Data initiative, which is in partnership with the Ghana Statistical Services and the Flowminder Foundation, has enabled the production of rapid mobility estimates using anonymised and aggregated mobile phone data to support the government’s interventions against COVID-19.