Zim MNOs join other operators, African Union in fight against Ebola in West Africa

Nearly 9 months after the first case of Ebola triggered panic in parts of Africa the virus is still raising concerns from people throughout the continent and even on a global scale.

As a result there are efforts that are being kicked off even outside the affected countries. More recently mobile network operators across the continent have partnered The African Union in support of the fight against Ebola in West Africa.

Through the use of a dedicated SMS platform, this initiative will help raise financial resources that will be directed to the health workers working in the affected countries.

Zimbabwe’s mobile network operators are throwing their support behind this initiative and will be launching their involvement tomorrow. This event and initiative is being supported by the Ministry of Health and Child Care.

This is not the first involvement by local network operators in the fight against the Ebola virus. Econet Wireless first lent its effort through an awareness drive on its EcoHealth tips platform.

These tips offered ways to avoid the spread of the Ebola virus and how to deal with suspected cases and the service has been offered for free since September when it was introduced.

Telecel ZImbabwe has been involved through the support of a citizen driven fund raising campaign called A dollar for Ebola. This crowd-funding campaign was launched on Facebook and gained the support from Telecel in the form of a USSD based payment platform which accepts the $1 donations.