PRESS RELEASE

Spreads awareness through ‘Ebola Public Health Project’

New Providence, New Jersey and Accra, Ghana, 23 February, 2015: Vodafone Ghana, a leading telecom operator in Ghana, and Kirusa, the leader in voice messaging and social media solutions for mobile users in emerging markets, have announced the launch of ‘Ebola Public Health Project’ under Vodafone’s Ghana Foundation’s ‘Mobile for Good’ initiative, on Kirusa’s platform.

This is a unique initiative in the area of Public Health Education and will involve the dissemination of content on the Ebola outbreak to Vodafone subscribers for free. The project, which commenced in November 2014, is expected to run up to April 2015. The platform provided by Kirusa will also support incoming calls from outside the network as well as international sources to retrieve the same content, which will also be refreshed weekly.

Commenting on the partnership, Nana Yaa Afriyie Ofori-Koree, Head of Vodafone Ghana Foundation and Sustainability said, “Mobile for Good - is one of our integral projects to support various organizations that are using mobile technology to solve socio-economic challenges across the country. With the launch of the initiative, we are reiterating our promise to invest more into the communities we serve, reach out to people in need and promote high standards in the telecommunication industry. The Ebola epidemic has taken a huge toll in West Africa. This is our endeavor to spread awareness amongst our countrymen and make Ghana an Ebola- free country. We are delighted to partner with Kirusa, facilitating us to take this initiative to as many people as possible.”

Vodafone Ghana Foundation’s ‘Mobile for Good’ initiative empowers Ghanaians to deploy mobile technology in a way that impacts the lives of ordinary people, socially and economically. At the launch, seven applicants were awarded funds between GH¢50,000 and GH¢100,000 to pilot their technology projects and demonstrate its impact on Ghanaians. The selected projects are diverse in concept, covering issues such as maternal health, HIV/AIDS, literacy, e-learning, blood donation and challenges with the emergency services.

Inderpal Singh Mumick, Chief Executive Officer of Kirusa, said, “We are honored to have been selected by Vodafone Ghana for this unique initiative. We believe that through this project, knowledge about Ebola and its avoidance will be enhanced to a great extent, hopefully saving many lives. We are delighted to be a part of this initiative with Vodafone.”

About Vodafone Ghana Foundation:

Vodafone Ghana Foundation supports sustainable initiatives that solve pressing social needs, and has since launch introduced several social and impactful programs. These include a newly transformed state-of-the-art Korle-Bu Cancer treatment facility; an ultra-modern community library for a cluster of schools at Asofan; provision of incubators for the Tamale Hospital, and fiber glass speed boats to assist NADMO in its disaster recovery efforts. The Foundation is also passionate about Health and has introduced several impactful healthcare initiatives to various communities across the country to improve access to quality healthcare. These include Healthline, the multiple award-winning CSR initiative; Healthfest which provides free quality healthcare to communities across the country; and Healthline 255, Ghana’s first medical call center which is run a team of nurses and doctors. At the heart of our foundation is the belief that our mobile communications technologies can address some of the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges and our responsibility is to utilize our innovative mobile technology in mobilizing social change and improving people’s lives. Consequently, Vodafone Ghana Foundation makes social investments by funding projects which use mobile technology for the benefits of all, via projects such as Mobile for Good initiative.

About Kirusa

Kirusa is the leader in voice messaging and social media mobile apps that enable mobile subscribers to “Have a Voice!” and share their stories with their family and friends across the globe. Kirusa’s solutions include InstaVoice®, InstaVoice Celeb™ and InstaVoice Sports™ apps, which are offered in partnership with more than thirty-five mobile carriers in Africa, India, LatAm, and Middle East, as well as via the app stores, and are used monthly by over 80 million mobile users in four continents. Kirusa solutions are built on its patented technology, and its highly reliable and scalable multimodal and cloud platforms, which process over one billion events a month. Kirusa has been recognized as one of top 20 most promising technology companies by Silicon India, and one of top 25 emerging technology companies by Smart Techie magazine. The InstaVoice app won first prize at NJTC Mobile Apps Forum. Informa selected InstaVoice as finalist for the Best App in Africa. Headquartered in New Jersey and led by an experienced team of wireless telecom executives and technologists, Kirusa has offices in four continents. InstaVoice is a US registered trademark of Kirusa, Inc. For more information, visit www.kirusa.com

For further inquiries, please contact

For Vodafone Ghana

Ebenezer Amankwah
Corporate Communications Manager
E-mail：Ebenezer.amankwah@vodafone.com 
Ghana: +233 20 200 9606

For Kirusa

Alchemy Corporate Communications 
Anju Makin 
India Cell: +91-9810170135
US Cell: +1(973) 536-2652
E-mail：anju_makin@alchemycc.com