Standard Chartered Bank and mPharma have presented the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR) with a portable Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) equipment donated by the bank and diagnostic, extraction kits and tubes donated by the health logistics company.

The donation is meant to assist in conducting widespread testing and detection of Covid-19 and comes on the back of rising cases of the virus in Ghana.

Asiedua Addae, Head of Marketing, Brand and Corporate Affairs, Standard Chartered Bank, Ghana, while presenting the donation said, “Widespread testing is key in the fight against Covid-19 and we are happy to present this testing equipment to KCCR after the first was presented to Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research three weeks ago”.

Standard Chartered Bank has committed ¢1 million to support emergency relief and aid those affected by Covid-19 in Ghana through three key ways; helping the vulnerable, assisting medical frontline workers with PPEs and bolstering widespread testing.

“At Standard Chartered Bank Ghana, we live up to our brand promise ‘Here for Good’ and hope that the testing equipment will enable more people to know their Covid-19 status so they can take care of themselves and their families”.

Commenting on the partnership, Gregory Rockson, Co-Founder and CEO, mPharma, said, “We are happy to partner with Standard Chartered Bank in this donation because we believe it is important to do widespread and faster testing especially for emergency cases as we continue fighting this pandemic”.

KCCR’s Scientific Director, Professor Robert Phillips, thanked Standard Chartered Bank and mPharma for bolstering their testing efforts and urged the public not to forget that the Covid-19 virus is still at large.

“This portable testing equipment works within short timelines to deliver results and it is a great blessing for KCCR as we aim to respond to the pandemic in an even greater way.

"We urge Ghanaians not to relent in following the government’s guidelines on social distancing and hygiene”, he added.

Separately, Standard Chartered Bank has also today donated PPEs which included N95 masks, surgical gloves and coveralls to the Department of Child Health at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. This becomes the fifth hospital to receive a donation of PPEs as part of the ¢1 million committed by the Bank.

As one of the integral treatment centres for COVID-19 cases in Ghana, it is essential that frontline workers at the institution are adequately resourced to protect them and those they come into contact with from being infected.