KENYA – Merck Foundation has conducted their Annual Kenya Alumni Summit in Nairobi to discuss their programs with their partners and beneficiaries to transform patient care landscape in Kenya through building healthcare capacity, raising awareness about sensitive social and health issues.

In addition, Merck Foundation conducted their Alumni Summit to meet the doctors who have completed or are undergoing the scholarships provided by Merck Foundation particularly to meet the Merck Foundation Alumni and Media Winners.

The philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany announced that the Annual Summit was co-chaired by Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg Haverkamp, Chairman of both Executive Board of E. Merck KG & Merck Foundation Board of Trustees, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Merck Foundation Dr. Rasha Kelej.  

Chairman Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp reaffirmed that the Merck Foundation teams are committed to transform the patient care landscape in Kenya and beyond, adding that 1300 scholarships have been provided to young doctors from 45 countries in 32 critical and underserved specialties.

The Merck Foundation efforts are primarily focused on improving access to quality & equitable healthcare solutions in underserved communities, building healthcare and scientific research capacity and empowering people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) with a special focus on women and youth.

“At Merck Foundation, our goal is improving overall health and well-being by building healthcare capacity, by providing access to quality and equitable healthcare solutions in the African continent and beyond,” Dr. Frank Stangenberg Haverkamp added.

At the same time, CEO of Merck Foundation Dr. Rasha Kelej said the foundation has provided 118 scholarships in Kenya in critical specialties such as Oncology, Embryology, Diabetes, Preventative Cardiovascular Medicine, Endocrinology and other specialties.

Other critical specialties include Sexual and Reproductive Medicine, Gastroenterology, Respiratory Medicine, Acute Medicine, Biotechnology of Human Assisted Reproduction and Embryology, Critical Care, Psychiatry, Internal Medicine and Urology.

Along with the Merck Foundation Alumni Summit, Merck Foundation conducted their Award Ceremony to recognize the winners of the Merck Foundation media recognition Awards.

“I am very happy to meet the Merck Foundation Alumni and Media Awards Winners in person for the first time after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. I am very proud of the work we are doing to transform public healthcare in Kenya,” Dr. Rasha Kelej reassured.

She further said that Merck Foundation will continue to scale up the numbers of scholarships offered in various critical specialties in order to create a stronger platform of skilled medical professionals and strengthen the public healthcare system in Kenya and rest of Africa.

In addition, Merck Foundation Health Media Training was conducted for the Award Winners to emphasize on the important role that media plays to influence society to create a cultural shift with the aim to address wide range of social and health issues.

The Media Training also included a session on the importance of increasing the awareness of early detection and prevention of Diabetes and Hypertension, the training session was addressed by Medical Experts, the Merck Foundation Alumni from Kenya.

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