Melcom Care Foundation steps up with GH¢500,000 gift to Ghana Medical Trust Fund
In a gesture that underscores the role of the private sector in confronting Ghana’s growing public health crisis, the Melcom Care Foundation has donated GH¢500,000 to the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, a contribution that the Fund’s leadership described as a “huge gesture” at a time when the need for support has never been more pressing.
The donation was presented during a visit to the Trust Fund’s Secretariat in Accra by Melcom’s Group Managing Director, Ramesh Sadhwani, and Group Executive Director, Sonya Sadhwani. It forms part of the Fund’s ongoing “Heal Ghana Month” campaign, a continuation of the February fundraising initiative dubbed “Kyere Wo Do,” meaning “Show Your Love,” which appealed to individuals and institutions to rally behind patients battling chronic non-communicable diseases. That earlier drive raised GH¢76,910, $570, and €1,000 for patient care before the campaign extended into March.
Mr. Sadhwani explained that the decision to contribute was driven by what the Foundation had observed through media coverage of the Trust Fund’s work, and by a conviction that the initiative was worthy of meaningful support.
“We have come across a lot of media publications on the work of the Trust Fund, which is an initiative of President John Dramani Mahama, and we felt it was worthy for us to add the little bit we can. Hopefully, under your guidance, it will go a long way in helping Ghanaians,” he said.
The Melcom Care Foundation was established specifically as a vehicle through which the retail giant channels a portion of its earnings into community support, with health and education as its primary focus areas. For a company that operates 65 stores nationwide and has served Ghanaians for over 37 years, the donation represents a natural extension of a corporate social responsibility agenda that has grown alongside the business itself.
Receiving the contribution on behalf of the Fund, Administrator Obuobia Darko-Opoku placed the donation in the context of a public health landscape that demands urgent and sustained attention. Non-communicable diseases, she noted, now account for 45 percent of deaths in Ghana, a statistic that translates into immense financial and emotional burden for thousands of families navigating the catastrophic treatment costs that often accompany such diagnoses.
“Our mandate is to ensure that Ghanaians diagnosed with non-communicable diseases, which are often associated with catastrophic treatment costs, are relieved of that burden and fully supported by the Trust Fund,” she stated. “We bring hope and support to patients, and I can say our presence has already brought relief to many.”
Ms. Darko-Opoku also highlighted an incentive that makes corporate participation in the Fund particularly attractive: donations qualify for a 100 percent tax deduction, allowing businesses to contribute to national healthcare delivery while simultaneously benefiting from the fiscal provision.
For Ghana’s NCD patients, many of whom face the cruel arithmetic of needing expensive, long-term treatment on incomes that cannot absorb such costs, contributions like Melcom’s represent something beyond a financial figure. They represent the possibility of care that would otherwise be out of reach.
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