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Bophelo! selected as Finalist for GBC’s 2011 Awards for Business Action on Health

PharmAccess is one of the initiating partners of The Bophelo! mobile primary health care program.

  • May 11, 2011

The Bophelo! mobile primary health care program is nominated for the Global Business Coalition business innovation awards, in the category community investment/partnerships. The Ohlthaver & List Group of Companies, of which Namibia Breweries/Heineken is a subsidiary, is the business partner nominated for the innovation. The Bophelo! program is one of 7 finalists in the category community investment/partnerships.

The GBC Business Action on Health Awards honors companies and organizations that commit themselves to the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria.  According to the GBC, this year’s 38 finalists represent exceptional programs in each awards category, combining solid intervention design, strong commitment to achieving results and a focus on long-term sustainability. The 2011 Finalists span five continents and myriad industries.

All Finalists now progress to a rigorous assessment phase by GBC’s external panel of expert judges, from which one winner and one to three commended companies will be chosen to be honored at GBC’s Tenth Anniversary Conference and Dinner, June 1-2 in New York.

Bophelo!
The Bophelo! mobile primary health care program is a public private partnership, which aims to provide mobile primary health care services to rural and remote populations. The program commenced in 2010, after a study conducted by PharmAccess Foundation revealed that rural employees and communities in Namibia have to travel very long distances to reach the nearest public health facility.

The target group for the program are rural employees and their dependents and the communities who lie on route of the mobile clinic in the rural area. The program is a partnership between the Ohlthaver & List Group, Heineken Africa Foundation, PharmAccess Namibia, the Namibia Business Coalition on AIDS, the Namibia Institute of Pathology, and is supported by the Ministry of Health and Social Services. The role of the O&L Group has been a founder partner of the program and supported PharmAccess in the initiation of the program, securing funding through Heineken Africa Foundation for the purchase of the first mobile clinic, and serving on the steering committee governing the program.