GBC Health, John Hopkins University Honour Access Bank with Innovation Award

The GBCHealth’s Corporate Alliance on Malaria in Africa (CAMA) alongside the Private Sector Malaria Prevention Project (PSMP) at John Hopkins Center for Communication, UK Aid and the National Malaria Control Programme of the Ghana Health Services, have conferred the ‘Innovation Award’ on Access bank and other significant awards to four other organisations for their roles in combating malaria scourge on the continent.

Access Bank won the Innovation in Malaria Financing award with its Malaria to Zero initiative that leverages innovative financing technology and media tools to accelerate the impact of malaria behavior change programs reaching 2 million Nigerians in grassroots and underserved communities across Nigeria.

The other awarded organizations – ExxonMobil, Aliko Dangote Foundation, TANA Netting and Hippo Valley Estates Ltd. According to the organisers have taken significant steps to protect their employees and communities; and contribute to sustainable progress on national and global malaria eradication goals.

The event which took place in Accra, Ghana on the 5th April, 2018 had the First Lady of the Republic of Ghana, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, in attendance as the Keynote speaker of the day and the award recognitions came into play at night providing an opportunity for corporate leaders to share best practices and explore opportunities for partnership.

Reacting to the great honour bestowed upon Access Bank, the Head of Sustainability, Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan, noted, “the only way to end or at least reduce the prevalence of malaria is by organizing and strategically leveraging on the resources, capabilities and the proven expertise of private sector organizations. This is what Access Bank has been championing using the platform of Malaria to Zero,”

“For more than a decade GBCHealth has been presenting awards to companies that exemplify a spirit of innovation and seek to address today’s most critical global health challenges. Each of these companies is demonstrating through action what true leadership looks like when it comes to serving their employees and communities,” Nancy Wildfeir-Field, president, GBCHealth said.

In no order of preference, ExxonMobil malaria initiative won the award for the Champion in Sustainability Malaria Program for reaching more than 125 million Africans with their community malaria initiative, while, the Aliko Dangote Foundation won the Leading in Multi-sectorial Partnership award for promoting multi- sector partnerships to increase the impact of private sector support of malaria control and elimination.

The Local Development and Empowerment award was won by TANA Netting for DawaPlus project that places labor intensive processes of LLIN production in African countries to maximize the developmental potential of donor funds by also creating local employment opportunities.

Lastly, Hippo Valley Estates Limited won the award for Workplace and Workforce Engagement with its Wellness and Disease Management project that is built on prevention through an integrated public health approach to communicable diseases such as malaria, TB and HIV; maternal and child health management for employees and their dependents; and onsite clinical, diagnostic and radiology services.