MTN Nigeria’s corporate social investment vehicle, MTN Foundation has launched MTNF Y’ello Doctor Mobile Medical Intervention Scheme, a mobile clinic that will provide access to healthcare in the country.
The scheme, otherwise known as “MTNF Y’ello Doctor Project”, will see the deployment of six state-of-the-art mobile clinics, stocked with medical equipment and drugs, to six selected states.
The beneficiary states will however provide the medical personnel to ensure seamless provision of primary healthcare.
MTN Foundation, which says it has invested over N9 billion in executing various projects in 338 locations across the 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal capital Territory (FCT), also indicated that the beneficiary states were chosen from the submission of expression of interest it requested from states Health Ministries for consideration as beneficiaries of the project.
The submissions from interested state ministries went through a selection process based on qualitative and quantitative criteria and thereafter verification visits were conducted in shortlisted states, the company said.
The beneficiary states are Ogun, Delta, Abia and Taraba while the remaining two states, representing the North West and North Central regions are yet to be selected.
The mobile clinics will also help reduce the incidence of maternal and child deaths especially in rural communities while tackling the control of communicable and non-communicable diseases in the communities of beneficiary states, among other benefits, a company statement read.
MTN, through the Y’ello Doctor Mobile Medical Intervention Scheme, seeks to contribute to the efforts of the Federal and State Ministries of Health to improve overall healthcare delivery in Nigeria, MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Officer, Michael Ikpoki explained. “It is our pledge that we will continue to work with government at all levels to enrich lives in communities across Nigeria,” he said.
Speaking on the initiative, Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Ado Gana Muhammad, who was represented by Director, Primary Health Care System Development, Dr. Nnenna Ihezubor, said: “This is one Public Private Partnership (PPP) which is very dear to our agency not just because of the lives that would be saved, but because this project marks a shift in the traditional model of PPP in the health sector wherein the government provides funding for projects but MTN Foundation demonstrated another level of commitment by taking on the total cost for the project.”
