I am very happy to meet my dear sister H.E. Senator OLUREMI TINUBU, CON, First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria & Ambassador of ‘Merck Foundation More Than a Mother’ at the 12th Edition of our annual conference, “Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary”, held in partnership with the Government of The Gambia. The conference was inaugurated by Mr. MUHAMMAD B. S. JALLOW, Vice President of the Republic of The Gambia, together with Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp, Chairman of Merck Foundation Board of Trustees, and co-chaired by Mrs. FATOUMATTA BAH-BARROW, The First Lady of Gambia and Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother, and me. The First Ladies of Burundi, Central Africa, Liberia, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Senegal joined as the Guests of Honor and Keynote Speakers.
We had a meaningful discussion about our ongoing joint programs to build and advance healthcare capacity by providing scholarships for local Nigerian doctors. I am proud to share that till now we have provided 82 scholarships for local Nigerian healthcare providers in many critical and underserved specialties like Fertility, Embryology, Sexual and Reproductive Care, Women’s Health, Oncology, Diabetes, Endocrinology, Preventative Cardiovascular, Cardiology and Obesity & Weight Management, Acute Medicine, Respiratory Care, Dermatology, Rheumatology, Critical Care, Psychiatry, Care for Older Person and Pain Management. Together, we will continue to work closely to transform future of patient care in Nigeria.
Watch the Video of The First Lady of Nigeria & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother during the Day 2 of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2025 here:
Watch the video of Merck Foundation CEO, Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej receiving H.E. Senator OLUREMI TINUBU, CON, First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria & Ambassador of ‘Merck Foundation More Than a Mother’:
On Day 1 of the conference, the Plenary Session of the Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2025 took place, featuring keynote speeches of First Ladies of Africa. Moreover, a high-level ministerial panel discussion was also held with African Ministers to discuss the Merck Foundation African Research Summit MARS strategy to build scientific research capacity and empower women in STEM with special focus on scientific research.
On Day 2 of the conference, Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative- MFFLI committee meeting was conducted between The First Ladies of Africa and Merck Foundation Chairman and CEO, where the African First Ladies shared the impact report of Merck Foundation programs in their respective countries, and future strategy was discussed.
Watch the video of MFFLI committee meeting:
I am also very proud to share that Together with Nigeria First Lady, we have provided 82 scholarships for local doctors in Nigeria in many critical and underserved specialties.
Merck Foundation has always believed in the importance of building healthcare capacity and has been working for it since 2012. We have so far provided more than 2400 scholarships for healthcare providers from 52 countries in 44 critical and underserved medical specialties. We will continue to provide scholarships of doctors from Nigeria and beyond.
We have also announced the Call for applications for our 8 important awards in partnership with The First Lady of Nigeria for Media, Musicians, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, students, and new potential talents in these fields.
Moreover, in partnership with The First Lady of Nigeria, we are launching our children’s storybooks, “More Than a Mother”, “Educating Linda”, “Jackline’s Rescue”, “Not Who You Are”, “Ride into the Future” and “Sugar free Jude”, “Mark’s Pressure”, and “Ray of Hope”. The storybooks address various social and health issues like breaking infertility stigma, supporting girl education, stopping GBV, diabetes and hypertension awareness. Thousands of copies of the storybooks will be distributed to school children.
The 12th Edition of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2025 was streamed live across our social media platforms.
Kind Regards,
Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej (Ret.)
CEO of Merck Foundation
