The Jospong Group of Companies has presented a cheque for GH¢120,000 to the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) of the University of Ghana, Legon, to support its work on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and other research activities in the country.
According to the Jospong Group, the NMIMR had done extremely well in the country’s fight against COVID-19 and so needed to be supported to carry out more activities to enable it to function effectively. Presenting the cheque, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the Jospong Group, Ms Sophia Lissah, commended the staff of the NMIMR for what they had done so far, especially with regard to the COVID-19 situation in the country.
“We want to thank Noguchi and its allied partners for the wonderful work they are doing in these trying times. Some countries are not reporting many cases because they do not have what it takes to do so, but our top people and scientists at Noguchi have put their lives on the line and are doing this for the nation,” Ms Lissah said.
She said the presentation of the money was based on a call from the institute for support to enable it to carry out its work effectively. Since the advent of COVID-19, she said Zoomlion had been at the forefront, ensuring that the country remained safe with interventions it had put in place for a safe environment.
“As a leader in the environmental sanitation industry, Zoomlion has been concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on the country. There is the psychological bit, emotional bit and the economic impact on the nation and, therefore, we are doing whatever it takes to minimise the surge and impact on the people,” she said.
The Director of NMIMR, Professor Abraham Anang, who received the cheque on behalf of the institute, thanked the Jospong Group for its kind gesture. Prof Anang underscored the importance of forging partnerships and cited goal eight of the Millennium Development Goals and goal 17 of the Sustainable Development Goals which all talked about the importance of partnerships in breaking barriers.
“This is an important partnership that we have learnt about and I am very pleased to announce to the whole world that the advances that we have made here at the University of Ghana which relate to the sequencing of COVID-19 have been done as a result of a partnership.
“It is being done by the University of Ghana NMIR and our sister partner institution, the West African Centre for Cells Biology and Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP). I believe that it is a very good thing that we have been able to achieve to bring partners together to work to break barriers because as we all know sequencing has its significance,” he said.
With respect to Zoomlion, a subsidiary of the Jospong Group which is engaged in sanitation, he said it stood very tall among its peers, especially in the areas of personal and environmental hygiene. He cited the work that Zoomlion had done in collaboration with the government to disinfect and fumigate markets, universities, schools and other state institutions as part of the national efforts to deal with COVID-19.
“We are grateful to you Zoomlion for these wonderful efforts you are making. We believe that this relationship will go very far and add to the partnerships we are building,” he said.
On tests carried out by the institute with regard to COVID-19, he said with the partnership with WACCBIP and others, the tests for the disease had been advancing well and that “in recent times we have been able to do between 2,000 and 3,000 tests a day, a major achievement. It is all possible because of the partnerships we have been able to put together,” he said.
Source: .graphic.com.gh
