By Kemo Cham
The 11th edition of Merck Foundation’s Africa Asia Luminary kick-started on Tuesday, October 29th in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam, with calls for support and pledges to build strong healthcare capacity in Africa and Asia.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan presided over the opening event which brought together 15 First Ladies from across Africa and Asia as guests of honor.
“I am delighted to host this prestigious conference in Tanzania. It is a great honor to inaugurate the conference alongside the First Ladies of Africa and Asia,” said President Hassan in her address which preceded the official launching of the two-day conference.
She added: “I am certain that this conference will help us to achieve our shared mission — to make a transformation in the health and well-being of our people.”
The Tanzanian president praised Merck Foundation for its work in building healthcare capacity, breaking infertility stigma, and supporting girl education across Africa and Asia.
The Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary is a yearly educational conference of Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck Germany, whose aim is to contribute to the social and economic development of Africa and Asia. It is attended by healthcare providers, policymakers and practitioners, among others.
Organizers say the Dar es Salaam meeting is being attended by more than 6,000 delegates from over 70 English, French, Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries through hybrid model.
The event is divided into five parallel scientific and social sessions which are geared towards advancing healthcare capacity and awareness in 44 critical and underserved medical specialties.
The conference marks the 7th anniversary of Merck Foundation and the 12-year journey of its development programs.
Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and Chairperson of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary, said the aim of the Foundation is to contribute to improving access to quality and equitable healthcare solutions and building healthcare capacity in the many critical and underserved medical fields it covers. She noted that like previous editions, this year’s gathering provides a much needed platform to discuss strategies and solutions for the health and social challenges facing the countries in the two regions.
“Together, we will share our experiences and discuss the impact of our programs in building healthcare and media capacity, while raising awareness on a wide range of critical social and health issues like Supporting Girls’ Education, Ending Child Marriage, Stopping Gender-Based Violence, Breaking Infertility Stigma, Ending FGM, Women’s Empowerment, and Diabetes and Hypertension Awareness,” Dr Kelej said.
The Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary is running from October 29th to 30th, and in the course of the two days, participants will deliberate on four educational sessions along the organization’s five main programmes: Merck Foundation More Than a Mother; Merck Foundation Cancer Access; Merck Foundation Diabetes Blue Points; Merck Foundation Capacity Advancement & COVID 19 Response; and Merck Foundation Health Media Training.
Through these groundbreaking programmes, Merck Foundation has helped improve on health care services in some of the world’s most deprived communities through capacity building of healthcare workers, in line with the Foundation’s vision that “Everyone can lead a Healthy and Happy life.”
Dr Kelej revealed that through its programmes, Merck Foundation has provided more than 2,080 scholarships to young doctors from 50 countries in 42 critical and underserved specialties such as Oncology and Cancer care, Fertility Care, Embryology, and Sexual & Reproductive Medicine, areas that are in serious shortage in expertise in countries like Sierra Leone.
Day one of the 11th Edition of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary featured the Plenary Session, a high-level panel discussion with the participating First Ladies and two high-level ministerial panel discussions with African Ministers and top healthcare experts from across the globe.
Day Two of the conference will feature five key parallel medical and scientific sessions, covering topics around some of the most pressing health issues in developing countries, like oncology, diabetes and hypertension, fertility and reproductive care, and medical capacity building.
The Merck Foundation Health Media Training is also set to be conducted for African journalists on the second and final day.
“This session will emphasize the critical role of the media in influencing communities and driving cultural change, with regards to a wide range of social and health issues like Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girls’ Education, Stopping GBV, Ending Child Marriage & FGM, Empowering Women, Diabetes and Hypertension Awareness,” the organizers said in a statement.
Among the First Ladies in attendance at the event are those of The Gambia, Ghana and Liberia from West Africa.
Prof. Frank Stangenberg Haverkamp, Chairman of Merck Foundation Board of Trustees, said the organization is strongly committed to transforming the healthcare capacity of Africa and Asia through its scholarship programmes, among others.
“At Merck Foundation, our aim is to improve the overall health and wellbeing of people and build the healthcare capacity across Africa, Asia and other developing countries,” he said.
“We strongly believed that empowering people will lead to better future. We also believe that through health care we can transform the lives of individuals and families across developing countries,” he added.
