Ghana Re donates to three institutions

Ghana Reinsurance Company, one of the biggest in Africa, have donated the sum of GH¢200,000.00 to selected institutions in the country. It is part of honouring its annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs over the years. The donations were done on Wednesday, last week, at the company’s Head Office at Ridge, Accra.  

The selected institutions include the University of Ghana Students, Financial Aid Office, Legon – GH¢30,000.00, Life Line for Childhood Cancer/Department of Child Health Oncology Unit, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital – GH¢63,154.00 and Princess Marie Louise Children’s Hospital, Accra – GH¢106,846.00.

George Yaw Mensah – Managing Director, Ghana Re in his opening speech pointed out that the company is very mindful of giving back to society, and therefore sets aside a percentage of its budgeted pre - tax profit, every year, to be used as gifts and donations to deserving institutions.

According to him, this policy is to ensure promotion of goodwill and corporate trust, to enable Ghana Re contribute to national worthy cause to meet societal needs and to assist the less fortunate and physically challenged citizens in the society.

He pointed out that over the years, the company in a bid to cover as many institutions as practicable, has made presentations to at least eight institutions annually, in the last two years. However, in the last two years the company has re-strategised by selecting not more than three institutions to make a better impact.

The Managing Director explained further that Ghana Re in the past several years has provided financial support for undergraduate students currently on its scholarship list at the University of Ghana, Legon. This is done through the student’s financial aid office – the beneficiaries are usually selected in their first year (level 100) for degree programmes in Economics and Administration and are provided with financial assistance throughout the four years at the university.

“Given that these four students are beneficiary of a program that is expected to provide financial support during the said period, and the students, having fulfilled their side of the agreement by maintaining a score of 3.00 GPA and above throughout, management deems it appropriate that the company fulfil its promise by financing their education for the remaining years,” George Mensah, emphasised.

However, he pointed out in the case of Prince Marie Louise Hospital (PML), management of Ghana Re interacted with officials of the hospital and got to know that (PML) has several needs including the replacement of medical equipment such as x-ray machines, anaesthetics machines, patient’s monitors and oxygen system for the theatre recovery ward.

We therefore identified PML’s need for patient monitors as a project worth considering to facilitate delivery of high-level patient care in addition to considering a replacement of the oxygen system to facilitate the smooth delivery of oxygen to the theatre ward as well as freeing EML from cost incurring for repair works due to frequent breakdowns.

He explained further that Life Line for Child Cancer Ghana, is a foundation established by the Paediatric Oncology Unit of the Department of Child Health, Korle-Bu. Currently, the national health insurance scheme does not support childhood cancer in Ghana, hence treatment is out of the pocket of all patient.

Hence, the foundation has been established by the Paediatric by the Paediatric Oncology Unit to create awareness and make childhood cancer a national health priority by advocating for provision of high-quality diagnostic/treatment facilities for children affected by cancer in Ghana. Hence, Ghana Re has contributed towards national worthy causes to support the needy in the society.

The representatives from the three institutions were full of recommendations for Ghana Re and called for more in the coming years.