Five out of the six mobile telecommunication operators in the country have launched an initiative aimed at supporting infected persons in the Ebola affected countries in the West African sub-region.
The initiative, which will span three months, is an SMS based campaign expected to raise funds to help fight the disease.
The initiative, dubbed “Africa Solidarity against Ebola campaign”, will be conducted under the umbrella of the African Union Support to Ebola Outbreak in West Africa (AWEOWA)” and the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) in Ghana.
Support to save life
Speaking at a press launch in Accra on Wednesday, the Chief Executive of Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, Mr Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, called on Ghanaians to “Support the campaign by texting STOP EBOLA to 7979 on all participating telecoms to save a life”.
He added that even though Ghana had not recorded any case of the virus, measures had been put in place to fight the disease should it break.
According to him, a business roundtable was hosted by the African Union in Addis Ababa to raise resources from various business sectors on the continent to support the fight against the outbreak of the deadly disease.
As a result, he said mobile telecommunications operators in Africa launched a continent wide campaign dubbed, “United against Ebola”.
He said telecoms in 41 African countries signed up to partner and support the African Union, hence the SMS based campaign to fight the disease.
He commended the participating telecoms for their effort to help fight Ebola.
Launching the campaign, the Deputy Minister for Communications, Mr Ato Sarpong, called on corporate bodies to support the initiative by partnering government to create public awareness about the disease.
He stated that the government would begin an intensive integrated campaign aimed at educating the public about the disease and how they could manage cases of the disease.
Credit: Graphic online