Kia Motors boosts healthcare in Ghana with opening of Green Light center
- Fanteakwa center offers basic medical services for approx. 30,000
- 11th Green Light Project from Kia: a global CSR program improving public health, education and vocational skills in developing countries
- Center operated through a financially self-sufficient system; transferred to local healthcare department for self-management after five years
Kia Motors Corporation has inaugurated a new public healthcare center in Ghana, the latest step in the company’s ‘Green Light Project’ global corporate social responsibility program that seeks to improve public health, education and skills in developing countries. More than 100 guests including Sungsoo Kim, Ambassador of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea participated in the event for celebrating the extraordinary program.
The new Green Light Health Care Center in the Fanteakwa District in the Republic of Ghana is one of 12 Green Light Project schemes by Kia. The company’s Project has seen the inauguration of a range of public facilities in nine countries – eight in Africa and one in Asia – since 2012.
The new center will offer basic medical services to 30,000 people in Fanteakwa, a predominantly agricultural community with poor infrastructure and living conditions. In particular, it will help address the lack of public healthcare facilities offering maternal care and treatment for children.
Located adjacent to schools and a residential area, the center provides treatment for minor injuries and illnesses, maternal care and support, pediatric care, diagnosis and vaccination for HIV and malaria, and education for family planning. In addition, a mobile clinic in the form of a renovated Kia Bongo truck will expand the reach of the center to around a dozen neighboring towns in Fanteakwa District.
“The ultimate objective of the Green Light Project is to go beyond infrastructural support, to create for the community a system of self-sufficient local healthcare,” said Kyehwan Roh, Team Leader of CSR Management Team at Kia Motors. “This strategy is one which Kia Motors will continue to reflect in its CSR activities throughout Africa and other parts of the world.”
Healthcare in Ghana’s Fanteakwa District
The 11th facility inaugurated under the Green Light Project in Africa, the Fanteakwa center will be operated by World Vision Ghana, a non-governmental humanitarian organization. Kia has paid to construct the healthcare center and will fund the operation for five years.
The key to the success of the Green Light Project in Africa is its integrated and innovative governance, including the participation of local government, financially self-sufficient management and civic involvement, and the eventual transfer of management to the local authority.
Ghana, located along the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Ocean in West Africa, is beset by high infant and maternity mortality rates, as well as a series of other public health challenges identified under United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Fanteakwa suffers from particularly poor healthcare infrastructure, exacerbating these issues.
The Fanteakwa center is administered in line with the Ghanaian government’s locally tailored healthcare policy, and in cooperation with the Fanteakwa District government, which provides civil servants, doctors, nurses and other staff. The Ghana National Healthcare Quality Strategy (2017-21) targets the improvement of public health and fulfilment of healthcare needs under the auspices of local healthcare authorities.
Along with the Ghana National Healthcare Quality Strategy, another national healthcare policy, the Expanded Program of Immunization is harmonized into the operation of the Green Light Health Care Center in Ghana. Starting from the third year, various revenue streams will be planned by World Vision Ghana to enable the center’s financial independence, allowing the institute to be transferred eventually to the local health department.
The residents, for their part, will make efforts to run the healthcare center self-sufficiently, provide health-related education, and promote its programs throughout the local community.
Through the Green Light Project, Kia Motors has built schools, healthcare centers and vocational training centers in Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Ghana since 2012. All 12 projects will be completed by 2023.
