Nigerian cement-manufacturing company Dangote has handed over personal protection equipment (PPE) kits worth 100-million CFA francs to Cameroon’s ministry of public health to support health-care workers on the front line in the country's fight against Covid-19.
Cameroon has been fighting the novel coronavirus for several weeks, and a number of corporate organisations are contributing towards this battle, which requires a lot of resources, according to Nairametrics, a financial resource company based in Nigeria.
Speaking at the handover of the equipment, Dangote Cement Cameroon SA country manager Abdullahi Baba said: “These are important products for medical personnel. Dangote Cement is a corporate responsible company. Our concern here is the health of citizens.”
He hailed the bravery of the health workers since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, saying that they are the main focus of the cement company.
Dangote Cement Cameroon SA is a subsidiary of the indigenous cement giant, Dangote Cement.
Support materials handed over included 15,000 masks, 10,000 shoe covers, 3,260 litres of chlorinated water, 120 Thermoflash thermometers, 90,000 gloves, 100 sprayers and 1,440 packages of food supplements.
The donation was received by Alim Hayatou, the secretary of state to the Minister of Public Health Manaouda Malachie.
Hayatou said: “We thank you for this gesture for Cameroon.”
On Sunday, Cameroon recorded 2,579 positive cases of Covid-19, with 114 deaths and 1,465 recoveries. On his social media account, Malachie urged residents to stop the stigmatisation of Covid-19 patients, pointing out that “Covid is not a disease of shame, so let's not hide in homes”.
“Let's go to the hospital for other illnesses without risk of getting infected. Continue to vaccinate our children normally,” he wrote.