IAMGOLD : The fight against COVID-19 in Burkina Faso

The fight against COVID-19 in Burkina Faso

As part of the Company's corporate social responsibility and in alignment with the President of Burkina Faso's call for national and international solidarity in the fight against COVID-19, IAMGOLD Essakane SA donated medical equipment to the Department of Health and to the Regional Hospital of Dori on October 7 and October 9, respectively.

The donation to the Department of Health included 10 complete ventilators with accessories, two of which were for the Directorate of the Regional Hospital of Dori. The official handover ceremony took place in the meeting room at the Department of Health in Ouagadougou in the presence of Mr. Emmanuel Sorgho, Chief of Staff, representing the Minister of Health; Ms. Carol Vivian McQueen, Canada's Ambassador to Burkina Faso; Mr. Oumar Toguyeni, Senior Vice-President, International Affairs and Sustainable Development of IAMGOLD Corporation; and Mr. Tidiane Barry, Country Manager - Burkina Faso, IAMGOLD Essakane SA.

As stated by Oumar Toguyeni, this gesture towards the Burkinabégovernment is part of IAMGOLD's efforts to provide better care to COVID-19 patients and to help strengthen the country's health care infrastructures by improving its technical equipment. The Minister's Chief of Staff welcomed this timely donation, as the respirators will not only be used to care for COVID-19 patients, but also for patients suffering from other respiratory illnesses. On behalf of the government, he expressed his gratitude to IAMGOLD for this lifesaving gesture benefiting the people of Burkina Faso.

The donation to the Regional Hospital of Dori on October 9, 2020 was made in the presence of Professor Alkassoum Maiga, Minister of Higher Education, of Scientific Research and of Innovation, the Technical Advisor representing the Minister; Mr. Oumar Toguyeni, Senior Vice-President, International Affairs and Sustainable Development of IAMGOLD Corporation; Mr. Mohamed Ourriban, General Manager of IAMGOLD Essakane SA; the Regional Director of Health in Sahel; the Director of the Regional Hospital of Dori; and the administrative, political, customary and religious authorities of the Sahel region.

This donation included four oxygen concentrators, 1,350 complete personal protective equipment kits, five resuscitation beds, four multiparameter monitors, 20 Muraz tensiometers, two respirators with concentrators and PCR kits to perform tests on site at the Regional Hospital of Dori.

The Minister of Higher Education, of Scientific Research and of Innovation; the health, administrative and political authorities of the Sahel region; and the General Manager of the Regional Hospital of Dori took turns thanking and congratulating Essakane for this contribution of medical and technical equipment to the hospital, strengthening its capabilities in the resuscitation and care of patients in respiratory distress and access to COVID-19 PCR tests on site in the Sahel region.

The support provided by IAMGOLD Essakane SA for the fight against COVID-19 in Burkina Faso represents a total of CFAF 400 million.