Somalia’s Hormuud telecommunications company, leads the fight against covid-19 as its announces plans to help the country in its efforts to contain the spread.
By the end of April, Somalia had fewer than 500 cases of COVID-19. But two weeks later, May 13, the country had 1,170 confirmed cases, with 52 deaths. The situation could get worse if the trend continues. One of the problems authorities have been battling is fake news and disinformation, which is impacting efforts to slow the further spread of the virus.
To help counter the fake news and misinformation, Somalia’s largest telco has partnered the country’s Ministry of Health to implement a number of measures.
a press release shared with Tech In Africa, Hormuud Telecom said it had worked the government agency to create a free hotline and call centre accessible to all citizens, use social media to broadcast public health messages and announcements as well as providing free voice messages to 3.5 million mobile users.
The Hormuud Foundation, the firm’s philanthropic wing, has donated $2 million to help relief efforts, with $500,000 to be used in rebuilding sections of the Banaadir Hospital converted into COVID 19 response centres.
$350,143 will go towards helping IDPs, refugees, and marginalized members of the community, especially during the Ramadan period.
