{"id":4319,"date":"2020-08-28T10:40:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T06:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319"},"modified":"2021-02-19T10:49:42","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T06:49:42","slug":"message-from-dr-rasha-kelej-on-africa-being-declared-as-wildpolio-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319","title":{"rendered":"Message from Dr. Rasha Kelej on Africa being declared as wildpolio free"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rtaImage-30-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rtaImage-30-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rtaImage-30-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rtaImage-30-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rtaImage-30-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rtaImage-30.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><p>\n\n&#8220;I am delighted to learn the news of Africa being declared wild polio-free after their battle with the virus, and it is a testament to the health workers who have worked tirelessly to eradicate the virus from Africa.<\/p><p>As the CEO of Merck Foundation and as an African woman, I am proud that Merck Foundation is at the forefront of building health capacity in the beautiful continent, and I truly value the efforts of the health workers to eradicate the virus from Africa.&#8221;<\/p><p>The African continent was troubled with the wild poliovirus in 47 WHO AFRO member states for more than three decades and the eradication was declared by the African Regional Certification Commission for Polio eradication (ARCC) after identifying no cases following a four-year waiting period to monitor the spread of the virus.<\/p><p>Kind Regards,<br>Dr. Rasha Kelej<br>CEO of Merck Foundation<br>President, Merck More Than a Mother<br>One of the 100 Most Influential Africans (2019 &amp; 2020)\n\n<\/p><p><\/p><p><\/p><p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I am delighted to learn the news of Africa being declared wild polio-free after their battle with the virus, and it is a testament to the health workers who have worked tirelessly to eradicate the virus from Africa. As the CEO of Merck Foundation and as an African woman, I am proud that Merck Foundation [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-message"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Message from Dr. Rasha Kelej on Africa being declared as wildpolio free | Rasha Kelej<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Message from Dr. Rasha Kelej on Africa being declared as wildpolio free | Rasha Kelej\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&#8220;I am delighted to learn the news of Africa being declared wild polio-free after their battle with the virus, and it is a testament to the health workers who have worked tirelessly to eradicate the virus from Africa. As the CEO of Merck Foundation and as an African woman, I am proud that Merck Foundation [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rasha Kelej\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KelejRasha\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-28T06:40:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-19T06:49:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rtaImage-30.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rasha Kelej\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Rashakelej\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Rashakelej\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rasha Kelej\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rasha Kelej\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#\/schema\/person\/429e6f8aa2355c3af69519b29a0fe3a5\"},\"headline\":\"Message from Dr. Rasha Kelej on Africa being declared as wildpolio free\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-28T06:40:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-19T06:49:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319\"},\"wordCount\":164,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rtaImage-30.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Messages\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319\",\"name\":\"Message from Dr. Rasha Kelej on Africa being declared as wildpolio free | Rasha Kelej\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rtaImage-30.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-28T06:40:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-19T06:49:42+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rtaImage-30.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rtaImage-30.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Message from Dr. Rasha Kelej on Africa being declared as wildpolio free\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/\",\"name\":\"Rasha Kelej, CEO Merck Foundation\",\"description\":\"CEO Merck Foundation\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Rasha Kelej, CEO Merck Foundation\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Rasha-Kelej-129-scaled-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Rasha-Kelej-129-scaled-1.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1051,\"caption\":\"Rasha Kelej, CEO Merck Foundation\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KelejRasha\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Rashakelej\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rasha_kelej\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/rasha-kelej-a5605022\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCO_bN_T_NodcOYwcPjknaog\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#\/schema\/person\/429e6f8aa2355c3af69519b29a0fe3a5\",\"name\":\"Rasha Kelej\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b836d420e91888c2d8005f217e03f300?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b836d420e91888c2d8005f217e03f300?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rasha Kelej\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Message from Dr. Rasha Kelej on Africa being declared as wildpolio free | Rasha Kelej","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Message from Dr. Rasha Kelej on Africa being declared as wildpolio free | Rasha Kelej","og_description":"&#8220;I am delighted to learn the news of Africa being declared wild polio-free after their battle with the virus, and it is a testament to the health workers who have worked tirelessly to eradicate the virus from Africa. As the CEO of Merck Foundation and as an African woman, I am proud that Merck Foundation [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319","og_site_name":"Rasha Kelej","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KelejRasha\/","article_published_time":"2020-08-28T06:40:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-19T06:49:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rtaImage-30.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rasha Kelej","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Rashakelej","twitter_site":"@Rashakelej","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rasha Kelej","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319"},"author":{"name":"Rasha Kelej","@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#\/schema\/person\/429e6f8aa2355c3af69519b29a0fe3a5"},"headline":"Message from Dr. Rasha Kelej on Africa being declared as wildpolio free","datePublished":"2020-08-28T06:40:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-19T06:49:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319"},"wordCount":164,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rtaImage-30.jpg","articleSection":["Messages"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319","url":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319","name":"Message from Dr. Rasha Kelej on Africa being declared as wildpolio free | Rasha Kelej","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rtaImage-30.jpg","datePublished":"2020-08-28T06:40:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-19T06:49:42+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rtaImage-30.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rtaImage-30.jpg","width":1200,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=4319#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Message from Dr. Rasha Kelej on Africa being declared as wildpolio free"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/","name":"Rasha Kelej, CEO Merck Foundation","description":"CEO Merck Foundation","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#organization","name":"Rasha Kelej, CEO Merck Foundation","url":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Rasha-Kelej-129-scaled-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Rasha-Kelej-129-scaled-1.jpg","width":1600,"height":1051,"caption":"Rasha Kelej, CEO Merck Foundation"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KelejRasha\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Rashakelej","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rasha_kelej\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/rasha-kelej-a5605022\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCO_bN_T_NodcOYwcPjknaog"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#\/schema\/person\/429e6f8aa2355c3af69519b29a0fe3a5","name":"Rasha Kelej","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b836d420e91888c2d8005f217e03f300?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b836d420e91888c2d8005f217e03f300?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rasha Kelej"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4319"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4322,"href":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4319\/revisions\/4322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}