Surbana Jurong Group (SMEC) Ghana, an engineering, management and development consultancy, has donated an ultrasound machine worth GHȼ103,600 to the Ga Central Municipal Clinic.
The gesture forms part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility project, where among other things, it seeks to contribute to social development.
At the presentation, the West Africa Manager of SMEC, Jose Fernandes, noted that his outfit is hopeful the machine will support comprehensive maternal health delivery at the district clinic.
“For us, it is a special occasion and a very important one because we are integrated in Ghana; and Ghana, for us, is very important as a company, and that is why we could convince the committee to bring this project to us here in Ghana. I think it is important as our activities here are related to people,” he said.
He added that SMEC, through its CSR projects, will extend similar gestures to assist social development.
Receiving the machine on behalf of the clinic, Ga Central Municipal Director of Health, Dr. Esther Odame-Asiedu, expressed appreciation, saying the donation came at the right time.
She said the facility has none, and the about 50 pregnant women they take care of every month have to go elsewhere outside the district to access health services that demand the use of it.
“We do not have such machines in any of our facilities, so it will help our pregnant women very much in that, they will not have to go very far to other facilities outside the district to get this particular service. This will also help avoid death among the pregnant women as the machine could alert us of emergencies,” she said.
She added that another challenge with universal healthcare in the municipality is that it does not have a district hospital which could serve as a one-stop shop for healthcare; as a result, the populace has to visit other facilities in another district.
Located in Santa Maria, the Ga Central Municipal Clinic serves over 300,000 residents of the Ga Central Municipality which has no public district hospital.
SMEC
SMEC has operated in Ghana since 1976 and established a permanent office in Accra in 1998. SMEC’s first project was a feasibility Study and Detailed Design services for the Bui Hydroelectric Power Project. Since then, SMEC’s project experience in Ghana has spread across various sectors of Ghana’s growing economy.
