Partners with India to build healthcare capacity in Africa

Merck Germany launched Merck Foundation, a non-profit company established in June 2017 at the Fourth edition of their annual ‘Merck Africa Asia Luminary’ held in Cairo, Egypt. For the first time Merck foundation brings Asia and Africa together in their annual conference, with the aim to explore more valuable opportunities for building healthcare capacity with a special focus on cancer and fertility care.

Merck Foundation has partnered with India to provide training for future African oncologists and fertility specialists to improve access to quality and equitable cancer and fertility care in Africa. In partnership with Asian Academia and Maharashtra University, Merck Foundation conducted their advisory board to define the strategy to scale up the Merck Foundation programmes across Asia, through providing training and fellowship programs in India and Europe.

Dr Rasha Kelej, CEO, Merck Foundation emphasised, "I strongly believe that building cancer care capacity through providing training and oncology fellowship programmes is the right strategy to improve access to cancer care in Africa since the lack of professional skills is the main the challenge there. Our partnership with India is very critical to make a strong impact in achieving our vision in Africa."