Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej, (fourth left), Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp (fourth right) together with African First Ladies
CEO of Merck Foundation and Chairperson of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary, Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej, has highlighted the Foundation’s commitment to cancer treatment in Africa through the training of oncologists.
She said Merck Foundation has provided 138 scholarships for Oncology Training in many sub-specialties to doctors from 37 African countries, many of them being the first oncologists in their countries.
She said many of these scholarships were conducted in India where a state of art clinical training was provided at the prestigious training institutions of our partners such as Tata Memorial Center, Manipal University, Maharashtra University, Krishna University, Indra IVF Training and more.
“Therefore, we are very happy to be this year in India to celebrate our 10 years partnership with our respectable Indian partners”, added Senator Kelej.
She was speaking at the 10th edition of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2023 held in India, which had in attendance African First Ladies, who are also Ambassadors of the Merck Foundation’s “More Than a Mother” initiative.
Dr. Kelej said the Foundation had provided more than 1700 scholarships to young doctors from 50 countries in 42 critical and underserved specialties including diabetes, endocrinology, cardiovascular, fertility care, embryology, sexual & reproductive medicine, respiratory medicine, critical care, paediatric emergency, gastroenterology, rheumatology, clinical psychiatry, urology, and ophthalmology.
Chairman of both of Executive Board of E. Merck KG and Merck Foundation Board of Trustees Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp the goal of Merck Foundation, our goal is to improve the overall health and well-being by building healthcare capacity and by providing access to quality & equitable healthcare solutions in the Africa, Asia and beyond.
“I would like to thank our partners, African First Ladies and Health Experts, Policy Makers, Government Officials, Academia and Media from more than 70 countries to join hands with us in order to realize the vision of Merck Foundation that everyone can lead a healthy and happy life,” he said.
During the 10th Edition of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary, the First Ladies of 11 African Countries, also the Ambassadors of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother”, celebrated the 6th Anniversary of Merck Foundation and marked the 11-year journey of Merck Foundation development programs that started in 2012.
The two-day conference had important five parallel Medical and Scientific Sessions on Oncology, Diabetes & Hypertension, Fertility and Reproductive Care, and medical capacity building of other specialties such as; respiratory, acute care, emergency pediatric and neonatal care and more.
Additionally, a community awareness session, the Merck Foundation Health Media Training session was also conducted for the African journalists, to emphasize on the important role that they play to influence the community to create a cultural shift with the aim to Break Infertility Stigma, Support Girl Education, Stop GBV, End Child Marriage, End FGM, and Women Empowerment at all levels.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri