Olam Ghana, a subsidiary of leading food and agribusiness Olam International, has donated medical equipment to the Sampa Government Hospital to support health care delivery amidst the Covvid-19 pandemic.

The equipment worth $30,000, comprises ventilators, semi-automated chemistry analysers, an electric bed with mattress, overhead table, monitors, and an Olympus microscope, to enhance the services of the Sampa Hospital to patients in the surrounding communities.

Alongside its commitment to improving the livelihoods of farmers in its supply chains, Olam Ghana delivers health and wellness support to the surrounding communities, such as its annual Healthy Living campaign.

This year, in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service and Ghana AIDS Commission, Olam Ghana’s cashew business selected the Jaman North district to focus its support on for World AIDS day, with the theme “Global Solidarity, a Shared Responsibility – Stay Safe, Let’s end AIDS by 2030” in Ghana.

In addition to the donations, the business sponsored radio discussion on HIV/AIDS to raise awareness about HIV AIDS in the Sampa neighbourhood.

The Jaman North district was selected because of poor existing medical infrastructure on the ground. It is a town bordering Cote d’Ivoire with a high risk of exposure to Covid-19 due to transborder movement and activities.

Though mutually exclusive, both events were finished with a durbar held at the Sampa lorry park on the 1st of December 2020.

The durbar, which was graced by the DCE, the MP, the Chiefs of Sampa traditional council, the security forces, health personnel, senior high school students and the public alike also offered the opportunity for voluntary health screening and counselling.

Alongside, structured radio phone-in discussions were held to reach out to the good people of the Jaman North as part of efforts to create awareness of HIV AIDS and the World AIDS Day celebration.

Speaking at the durbar, Mr. Yussif Amankwa, branch manager for Olam Ghana Cashew said "Our world continues to be plagued withhealth crises, which not only threatens lives but also livelihoods.

"As a proactive step, Olam Ghana is donating this medical equipment to the Sampa hospital to better equip the facility to provide quality general and ICU health care services to the good people of Jaman North district."

"We trust this equipment would be put to good use to help mitigate the risk of COVID19, and any other future health issues that may confront us."

Receiving the items Mr Jacob Aleeba the Jaman District Health Director said, “We are so grateful to Olam for these very importance equipment donated to us, we least expected to also be blessed with such equipment, usually donations of this sort only come from government and mostly focused on medical facilities in the cities leaving those of us in rural communities behind."

"However, Olam Ghana has seen the need to also support those of us in the rural areas which really excites us. With this donation from Olam, we can also be in a better position to handle various intensive care health cases that otherwise would have been referred to facilities in the city."

"We promise to take very good care of these equipment and to put it to its rightful use to serve the people of Jaman North and beyond. As we celebrate the World AIDs Day, I also want to mention that the HIV virus still lives with us, and new cases of infection are still been recorded, I will, therefore, edge everyone to protect themselves, get tested and stop stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV”.