Samsung Electronics has announced that it will donate 3000 smartphones, worth about $1 million, to support the ongoing fight against Ebola. The smartphones, to be donated through the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA), will be used in the Humanitarian Connectivity Project, the UN’s IT project that utilises mobile devices to provide humanitarian support in disaster areas.
The donated GALAXY S3 Neo smartphones will be used in 60 Ebola medical clinics in the three worst-hit African countries, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
By installing the UN’s Smart Health Pro mobile application, medical staff can utilise the smartphones to treat patients and collect medical data, while quarantined patients can contact their families using the devices.
All donated smartphones will be destroyed once the virus outbreak has subsided. Samsung is also supporting various efforts to defeat Ebola in Africa, including providing financial support for the purchase of hazmat suits in Ghana and distribution of hand sanitizers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as launching an Ebola SMS text service in South Africa.
