Asokwa Children's Hospital (ACH), a small private hospital in Kumasi, Ghana, was established in 2008 and currently employs about 80 medical and non-medical professionals.
Between May to June and October to November, when the infectious diseases spread faster, Asokwa Children's Hospital accepts hundreds of children every day. In an in-person interview, the hospital director shared that the number of severe malaria cases has been greatly reduced due to the combined usage of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs), malaria preventative education and more precise diagnosis. He also shared that the philosophy of the Asokwa Children's Hospital has always been "Healing children, educating parents". With that in mind, doctors and hospital staff often travel out to communities and villages to host free clinics and provide preventive education.
Asokwa Children's Hospital accepts children from lower-income families in the surrounding area. However, as a private hospital, it doesn't receive funds from the National Health Department. All funds come from private and other non-profit organizations. ACH takes these low-income families, knowing that the bills might go unpaid. This deficit results in the hospital's annual income and expenditure gap of nearly 40%, but ACH still proudly continues to serve the community under these circumstances.
The donation from BlueNet can help the hospital solve the medical expenses of some children with malaria. With this financial help, the hospital can allocate its funds to recruit and train doctors, increase infrastructure, offer free clinics and provide other important issues to reduce the incidence of malaria.
In July 2019, BlueNet signed a long-term Memorandum of Understanding with Asokwa Children's Hospital in which BlueNet promised to donate antimalarials twice a year with a total budget of $10,000 per year.
On July 31, BlueNet volunteers hand-delivered $4691.61 worth of antimalarials to Asokwa Children's Hospital. The next delivery is expected in December or January 2020.
ACH has promised to donate all antimalarials donated by BlueNet directly to the children of families who cannot afford treatment.
In the future, BlueNet will continue partnering with Asokwa Children's Hospital to further expand into the Kumasi area to delivery free clinics and malaria preventative education.