Health
- Access to Health Care Initiative
- Humanitarian Response
Access to Health Care Initiative
The MTN Foundation has over the years made several interventions in the health sector including the construction of the Lela Obaro II health centre in Gulu in partnership with Stanbic Bank and has provided material & financial contributions to a number of health projects causes including the annual Rotary Family Health Days initiative, Kisoro Hospital maternity ward drive, St Mary’s Lacor hospital cancer initiative, the Rotary Club Gift of Life heart institute, the AMREF Maternal health project and the Nakasero Hospital fistula initiative among others.
During the celebration of 20 years of operation in Uganda, MTN Uganda through its charity arm MTN Foundation renovated and furnished maternity wards in eight health facilities with the main aim of improving access to quality maternal and neonatal health services in Aroi HC III Arua, Cwero HC III Gulu, Amach HC IV Lira, Naboa HC III Budaka, Kigorobya HC III, Kijura HC III and Kamukira HC IV Kabale.
In the mission to create brighter lives among children and youth born with physical disability, MTN Foundation signed a partnership between Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services Hospital and UMC Victoria Hospital to undertake corrective surgeries and treatment. The project reached out to 160 children and youth.
Following the increase in collection of blood in Uganda, the Uganda Blood Transfusion Services have a challenge of processing and storing the blood especially at regional level. MTN Foundation offered to purchase specialized refrigerators for regional blood banks in Arua, Mbale and Mbarara. The foundation also purchased a Blood Component Extractor that can process 2 blood plasma units at a go. This will go a long way to way of boosting the blood processing and subsequent transfusion to save lives of mothers and children in hospitals.
Following a successful 2015 MTN Kampala Marathon with the theme “Run for Kampala”, MTN Uganda and partners handed over the Ushs 500 million collected to the Kampala Capital City Authority to implement the bio-sanitation water and sanitation project in five deserving government aided primary schools in Kampala district. The schools to benefit from this project include Nsambya Police P.S, Kasubi Church of Uganda P.S, Kitebi P.S, Kisaasi P.S and Naguru Katale P.S. The intervention intended to improve access to quality toilet services, waste management and promotion of green technologies through use of biogas for cooking in schools.
Previous projects funded by proceeds from the MTN Kampala Marathon have included Water projects in Kotido and Nakapiripirit Districts both located in the Karamoja Region, Amuria District, Kiryandongo District and Kisoro District; Mama Kits for expectant mothers displaced by the war in Gulu district and free housing initiatives across the country in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. The water projects aimed at creating access to clean and safe drinking water for the beneficiary communities included digging of wells, building of sanitation facilities, facilitating quality maternal health care, improve human habitat environment for the returnees and development of sustainability community WASH committees.
MTN Kampala Marathon Proceeds 2018 and 2019 in partnership with Ministry of Health, UNFPA and Reproductive Health Uganda. The health facilities that benefited from this include Kawempe National Referral Hospital Kampala, Kalangala Health Centre IV, Packwach Health Centre IV, Muyembe Health Centre IV Bulambuli and Karungutu Health Centre IV Ntoroko.
In 2020, the foundation supported the upgrade of Bwizi Health Centre II to Health Centre III, furnished maternal wards in UPDF Health facilities in Masaka, Wakiso and Gulu, Mother Kevin Health in Kamuli.
The Foundation recently handover sanitary facilities under the Sanitation Improvement Project to address sanitation challenge at Butabika National Referral Hospital. The Foundation has supported 130 corrective surgeries and treatment under the Disability project in partnership with CoRSU Rehabilitation Hospital.
In 2021, the Foundation supported 16 Health Facilities under the Access to Health Care Initiative III.
Humanitarian Response
MTN has in the past also worked with government and community groups to assist in times of disaster. In 2013, MTN Uganda, through the MTN Uganda Foundation, gave an assortment of items to Kilembe Mines Hospital in Kasese as part of efforts to assist the area cope with the floods caused by the overflowing of river Nyamwamba that devastated the area following the heavy rains. The donation included 100 hospital beds, 100 mattresses, 100 blankets and 100 mosquito nets that were handed over to the then Minister of Health, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda behalf of the hospital. Other interventions have included the donation towards the landslide victims and Bududa which included among other items building of homes for the relocated families in Kiryandongo resettlement camp.
In November 2013, the MTN Foundation handed ten new booths, constructed in different locations along the 21km Northern By-Pass route, to the Uganda Police Force. The booths valued at approximately Ushs 110 million, have gone a long way in supporting the Uganda Police with community policing as well as enhancing their Emergency Response activities in the area.
Our partnership with the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and the Uganda Red Cross Society towards the Bududa landslides spans a long number of years. We were together in 2010 when the landslides first occurred and contributed through the donation of rescue and relief aid; we followed the relocated persons affected by the landslides to Kiryandongo and through the 2012 MTN Kampala Marathon constructed boreholes to support the provision of water. We did not stop here but also constructed several houses for shelter to families relocated to kiryandongo from Bududa.
In May 2019, we delivered relief aid to the people affected by the landslides. The relief items worth Ushs 30million include 200 cooking pots, 200 Jerrycans, 600 cups, 600 plates, 100 kitchen knives, 100 ladles, 300 blankets, 300 bars of laundry soap, 100 tarpaulins, 300 mosquito nets, 100 mats and 100 20ltr buckets.
In the same spirit the MTN Foundation installed 100 solar lamps in Bunambutye Resettlement Camp, Bulambuli district a place accommodating the landslide survivors.