Easing the burden of the pandemic in Burkina Faso

As communities and medical authorities throughout Africa continue to do their best to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, IAMGOLD has made a donation of medical supplies and equipment to a hospital in the east of Burkina Faso.

Bogandé, the capital town of the province of Gnagna with a population of about 9,000, is where IAMGOLD Burkina Faso Exploration's greenfield Thion project has its base camp. Through contact with the local population, the Exploration team became aware of an urgent need for protective equipment and medical supplies triggered by the pandemic.

Zak Sanfo, General Manager, Exploration, West Africa comments: "As the capital of its province, Bogandé is a centre of healthcare for several hundred thousand people in the surrounding area. Meeting the additional costs needed to protect both healthcare workers and the people they treat during the pandemic is an additional burden on an already impoverished community. We were glad to be able to support the Medical Centre of Bogandé at a time of crisis by arranging direct delivery of the supplies and equipment it so desperately needed."    

IAMGOLD's donation comprised the following:

• 2,000 pairs of medical gloves
• 400 FFP2 masks
• 11 basins for hand washing
• 48 Javex bottles (1.5l each)
• 48 hydro-alcoholic gels (0.5l each)
• 160 soap bars
• 70 protection suits
• 3 automatic pulverisers