The MTN Foundation Uganda, has handed over a modern sanitary facility to Butabika National Referral Mental Hospital in Kampala. The facility was constructed with funding from the MTN Foundation to ensure proper sanitation for the increasing number of mental health patients at Uganda ‘s mental health national hospital.
Under the Soul Foundation imitative- NGO for mental health awareness organization, the MTN Foundation-funded project was implemented through the Butabika Sanitation Improvement Project (SIP) with technical support from the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).
The new facility cost Ugx.333Million and it includes seven waterborne toilets, out of which three are for female and four for the male patients .
The facility was handed over at a ceremony presided over by the health state minister in charge of Primary Health Care, Hon Hanifa Kawooya. She thanked MTN Foundation for supporting the government’s efforts through extending their Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives to the health sector.“Butabika hospital is the National referral mental hospital in the country, tending to patients from all over the country. I, therefore, applaud MTN Foundation for stepping up to support us by providing this institution with modern sanitary facilities that will positively impact the lives of our patients,” Kawooya said.
Ms. Enid Edroma, the General Manager of MTN Corporate services expressed MTN’s commitment towards supporting the government to improve service delivery in key sectors.
“Corporate social responsibility is at the core of our operations as MTN Uganda. We believe that as a corporate company, giving back to the community is critical to our business growth as it creates shared value between us and the people we serve,” Edroma said, “We are indeed humbled to have been considered the partners of choice in making a difference in the lives of the patients in this hospital.”
There are about a thousand mental health patients at Butabika hospital. Dr. Juliet-N Nakku, the hospital’s Executive Director thanked MTN Foundation for their intervention following an increased number of paients at the hospital.
“Given the influx of patients, our old sewerage system had become inadequate. I am glad that the MTN Foundation stepped in to render us support. This facility will help address our sanitary needs while ensuring the safety of our patients, given that we are a psychiatric/mental health hospital,” Nakku said.
Between 2015 and 2017, MTN Foundation, through KCCA donated all the proceeds from the MTN Kampala Marathon towards the installation of modern toilet facilities including water harvesting and bio-gas components in 10 schools around the city. This was aimed at improving sanitation in the schools. To date, the facilities are serving thousands of learners in the beneficiary schools.
KCCA’s Daniel Okello noted that their journey in improving sanitary facilities in public institutions started over10 years ago when MTN constructed similar facilities in over 10 KCCA schools around Kampala.
Edroma reiterated MTN’s commitment towards complementing the government’s efforts in critical areas such as health, education, e-commerce, and youth empowerment.
“MTN is passionate about the well-being and health of the people in the communities within which it operates. It is for this reason that we saw cause in undertaking this project, to make a difference in the day to day lives of the patients in this hospital,” Edroma said.
