NetOne and TelOne have partnered in mobilisation of resources in the fight against COVID-19.
In a speech read on his behalf, by his deputy Dhingimuzi Phuti, at the Mpilo hospital in Bulawayo, ICT minister Jenfan Muswere said “ICTs play a critical role as a key enabler that supports all other economic activities across all sectors.”
“This pandemic has become a springboard that has seen my Ministry in conjunction with players under our purview accelerating digital innovations that seek to promote telecommuting and remote working in order to reduce contact risk and curb the spread of the virus,” Muswere said.
All ICT sector players contributed immensely towards the setting up of the National Covid-19 Response Hotline 2019, through the donation of various ICT equipment and toll-free lines to facilitate the set-up of the Ministry of Health and Child Care National Emergency Call Centre Facility.
In addition, the sector also contributed to the setting up of the 2023 Hotline to enable the Ministry of Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting services to effectively disseminate critical information during this COVID-19 season, this facility is also operational and working smoothly.
“I stand here today, to unveil a COVID-19 response package by 2 Telecoms companies under the Ministry’s purview, namely NetOne and TelOne.
“Both entities resolved to collaborate as State Owned Entities in the Telecoms Sector on a 50/50 Joint COVID-19 Mitigation Corporate Social Investment Initiative and put together a combined total of ZWL$10,000,000.00 towards both the immediate needs as well as medium to long term projects that seek to capacitate our public health facilities.”
“This commitment was pledged to His Excellency, The President of the Republic of Zimbabwe Cde. Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa at State House in April this year,” Muswere said.
A fortnight ago, ICT stakeholders were at Sally Mugabe Hospital witnessing the fantastic work by NetOne and TelOne and today unveiled a newly refurbished 35-bed Ward B5 at Mpilo Hospital. The two entities continue to contribute to improving the health sector.
NetOne Acting Chief Executive Officer, Chipo Jaisson said her company’s collaboration with TelOne has culminated in them providing support 3 Health facilities, namely Sally Mugabe Hospital, Mpilo Hospital as well as Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital.
“Our intervention focused on four critical aspects that addressed both immediate and long terms needs. The first one being the Provision of Protective Personnel Equipment (PPE) to improve the protection of front line Health Professionals. It is important to note that the demand for these highly consumable lines, largely exceeds the supply of the same given their frequency of use as well as disposable nature.
“This requires combined efforts from various stakeholders in order to effectively contribute towards the safety of front line health professionals as they support people affected/ infected by the virus. As such, I am happy to advise that NetOne & Telone procured various PPE and sanitizers which have already been handed over to the 3 facilities in May for onward disbursement to their frontline personnel,” Jaisson said.
