OREANDA-NEWS. Vodafone, Vodacom and Safaricom support deployment of medical personnel to fight Ebola crisis

Vodafone, Vodacom and Safaricom are supporting the African Union as it seeks to deploy more medical specialists to reach the areas in West Africa worse-affected by the Ebola outbreak.

A total donation of \$1.25 million has been made to the African Union's 'United Against Ebola' appeal, M?decins Sans Fronti?res and Vodafone HealthLine in Ghana. Vodafone Group has made a \$500,000 donation to the African Union's appeal, while Vodacom, the African communications company majority-owned by Vodafone, and Safaricom, Vodafone's affiliate in Kenya, have each contributed \$250,000 to the appeal.

The Vodafone Foundation, Vodafone's philanthropic arm, is also supporting the effort to ensure medical attention and advice reaches the people who need it most. The Foundation has given a total of \$250,000 to M?decins Sans Fronti?res (MSF), helping with the NGO's supply of medical support and resources during the Ebola outbreak, and the Vodafone HealthLine programme, the medical advice and information service from Vodafone Ghana. The funds donated to Vodafone HealthLine in Ghana have been used to increase capacity, as there has been a rise in calls to the service with more people enquiring about symptoms in wake of the Ebola outbreak. Prompted by MSF's response to the Ebola outbreak, the Vodafone Foundation made an ?80,000 (\$125,000) donation to support its work.

Safaricom, Vodacom and Vodafone Ghana are also harnessing the power of mobile technology to help raise further funds in the countries in which they operate. They are part of an African Union-led SMS fundraising campaign, which uses the short code 7979 with local adaptations. People have been asked to text 'Stop Ebola' to this code in order to donate in their respective countries.

Ebola has claimed more than 5,000 lives across some parts of West Africa since it was first reported in Guinea in December 2013. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), this is the largest outbreak on the continent, affecting mostly Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Earlier this month, the African Union announced the deployment of 250 Nigerian health workers to the worse-affected areas of West Africa to help fight the Ebola disease. The funds from Vodafone, Vodacom and Safaricom will be used to fund the deployment of these and other health workers.

Vodafone Group Foundation Director Andrew Dunnett said: "There is an urgent need to act fast to provide medical attention for people in the hardest hit areas of West Africa. The African Union's appeal is bringing together companies with a presence all over Africa to provide much-needed, immediate medical support, while mobile technology, the most powerful communications platform across Africa, will provide a means for further fundraising to help fight the Ebola outbreak."