MultiChoice Zambia donates PPE worth over K2.5M to front-line workers in COVID-19 fight

MultiChoice Zambia has donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) worth K2,593,787 to the Surgical Society of Zambia, through the Ministry of Health intended for front-line staff in support towards the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking during the handover, MultiChoice Zambia Chief Customer Officer Leah Kooma, appreciated the government, the medical fraternity, private sector and the general public for their collective efforts towards the fight against COVID-19 in these unprecedented times. She further stressed that MultiChoice Zambia will continue to support the fight against COVID-19 by ensuring its staff and customers visiting the branches are adhering to COVID-19 guidelines.

“Today, the support we bring through this donation comes in the form of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that includes a total of 10,000 N95 Face Masks and 10,000 Disposable Isolation Gowns – valued at K2,593,787,” Kooma said.

“Our core focus for this donation is delivery of these PPEs to people right at the front-line of this fight against COVID-19, interfacing with victims, suspected cases and in areas of high risk of the virus contagion,” Kooma remarked.

She further stated that the need for this equipment by frontline medical personnel is evidenced by available World Health Organization (WHO) statistics illustrating that more than 90,000 health workers globally have been infected with the virus despite being preventable.

While receiving the donation at Ministry of Health offices, the Minister of Health, Hon. Dr Chitalu Chilufya extended his gratitude for the support from MultiChoice Zambia towards the safety of health care workers and ensuring their urgent demands are met as well as those of Zambians through creative edutainment.

“This protective equipment is very important when it comes to health workers because it facilitates a healthy working environment and provides a safeguard against contracting or spreading the virus among fellow medical colleagues and re-infection of patients,” Hon. Dr Chilufya said.

“We acknowledge that this equipment is very expensive to acquire, therefore on behalf of the government and fellow Zambians, I want to thank MultiChoice Zambia for the generous contribution and for showing solidarity towards fighting and overcoming this disease together,” Dr Chilufya concluded.

And speaking at the same event, President of the Surgical Society of Zambia, Doctor Michael Mbambiko, said the society is happy that MultiChoice Zambia has donated a huge consignment of N95 masks and disposable gowns which will come in handy for surgical staff and all front liners in the fight against COVID-19.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues around the globe with more than 20 million confirmed cases and over 700,000 reported deaths, MultiChoice Zambia continues to urge its customers and the general public to continue to follow the mandatory guidelines provided by the Government and Ministry of Health.

During the handover of these PPE’s, Ms. Kooma also highlighted that, MultiChoice Zambia committed to providing support to local production houses during the COVID-19 pandemic and continued to support the local communities through various initiatives.

“In April this year we committed to continue supporting our local production houses as we are aware that this period continues to be challenging for most businesses. We also launched a customer value campaign which offered to provide free bouquet upgrades to DStv and GOtv customers because we understood that our customers were at home and needed creative and constructive ways to remain occupied and productive. In addition, we introduced Educational and Learning programs such as the EduTV, which is available on both DStv and GOtv platforms with the aim of providing content for school-going children who are out of school currently,” said Kooma.

Source: MultiChoice Zambia