Samsung and LG Electronics have donated a total of 5,000 smartphones, in efforts by the two companies to support the ongoing fight against Ebola, which has plagued West Africa with over 4,000 deaths reported.
Samsung announced a donation of 3,000 smartphones worth about 1 million US dollars, while LG announced a donation of 2,000 smartphones all of which will be donated through the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs (OCHA).
Among the donations by Samsung is the Galaxy S3 Neo smartphones which will be used in 60 Ebola medical clinics in the three African countries that are worst hit by the virus, including Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The smartphones will be installed with the UN’s Smart Health Pro application that will allow medical staff to utilize the smartphones in treating patients and collecting medical data, as well as allow quarantined patients to contact their families.
The donated LG smartphones will also be provided to healthcare and key personnel dispatched by the UN in the affected areas, allowing for fast and seamless communication between the teams on the ground, focusing on medical data gathering, monitoring and planning.
“We hope that our contribution will make a difference as the UN and NGOs fight on the front lines to improve healthcare, food security and sanitation in areas affected by the Ebola epidemic,” said Choong-hak Lee, senior vice president and head of LG’s CSR efforts.
Samsung said once the Ebola virus has subsided, all the donated smartphones will be destroyed.
