Airtel Ghana has been commended by President John Mahama for funding the ultra-modern purpose-built Clinical Teaching Facility and Diagnostics Centre for the University of Cape Coast School of Medical Sciences as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.
The President who was the guest speaker at the congregation and swearing-in of the pioneering batch of doctors who graduated from the school of Medical Sciences - University of Cape Coast on 31 August 2013 commended Airtel for its contribution towards the enhancement of education in Ghana.
He also counseled the new doctors to live above reproach and be guided by the physician's oath and the national pledge which they recited beautifully at the ceremony. The Clinical Teaching Centre comprising of the Lecture Premises, three (3) Students Pavilions and 13 offices for staff of the school was commissioned in 2011 by the late President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency John Evans Atta Mills and the Managing Director & CEO (International) for Bharti Airtel Ltd., Manoj Kohli, at a short ceremony in Cape Coast.
The disciplines being run at the Facility are Surgery, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Child Health, Obstetrics/Gynecology. These disciplines have sub-specialties such as Ear, Nose and Throat, Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Medical Imaging, Anesthesia and Pain Management, Psychiatry and Orthopedics. 307 students who were on roll during the 2012/2013 academic year and their lecturers have had the pleasure to use the Facility.
According to the Dean of the University of Cape Coast School of Medical Sciences, Professor Harold S. Amonoo-Kuofi, the first batch of 42 students who have just graduated will be posted across the country after their housemanship to address the unmet need of the various communities. Indeed, he believes that having the Facility and the two-storey Diagnostics Centre were instrumental in advancing the plans to upgrade the Central Regional hospital to that of a teaching hospital.
He called on other corporate institutions to follow the example of Airtel to support the university in its drive to provide the human resources to address the short-fall of doctors in the country, especially in the rural communities. Unlike other medical schools in Ghana, the university of Cape Coast School of Medical Sciences has had to operate largely on internally generated funds.
Explaining why Airtel got involved in the project, Managing Director of Airtel Ghana, Philip Sowah who was also at the graduation ceremony, stated that being a force for good was a way of fulfilling one of the company's core values of creating positive impact in the communities we operate. He was pleased that two years on, the Facility was being fully used for the purpose it was built.
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