{"id":5094,"date":"2021-05-04T14:48:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T10:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=5094"},"modified":"2021-05-13T14:53:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-13T10:53:00","slug":"zambia-first-lady-and-merck-foundation-ceo-senator-rasha-kelej-co-chair-merck-foundation-conference-2021-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=5094","title":{"rendered":"Zambia First Lady and Merck Foundation CEO, Senator, Rasha Kelej Co-Chair Merck Foundation Conference 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Merck Foundation<\/strong>, the philanthropic arm of Merck KgaA conducted their\u00a08th Edition of \u201cMerck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0from\u00a027th \u2013 29th April 2021<\/strong>, through an online videoconference. The conference was inaugurated by\u00a0the President of the Republic of Zambia, H.E. Dr. EDGAR CHAGWA LUNGU<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp Chairman of both of Executive Board of E.Merck KG and Merck Foundation Board of Trustees<\/strong>; and co-chaired by\u00a0H.E. Mrs. ESTHER LUNGU, The First Lady of the Republic of Zambia<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation.<\/strong> <\/p>

Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, Merck Foundation CEO & Co-chairperson of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary<\/strong> emphasized, \u201cWe have always believed in the importance of building healthcare capacity through providing training to healthcare providers in many medical specialties. Also, as a response to COVID 19 pandemic, we adopted the online medical education strategy to be able to continue with our efforts of healthcare capacity building. I am very proud that we have so far provided for more than 1100 Doctors from 42 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America with one & two-, three-year specialty training in multiple fields such as Oncology, Diabetes, Preventative Cardiovascular Medicine, Endocrinology, Sexual and Reproductive Medicine, Acute Medicine, Respiratory Medicine, Human Assisted Reproduction and Embryology & Fertility specialty, to be the first in their countries. Moreover, we have now widened our horizons by introducing more scholarships for young doctors in many new underserved specialties across Africa and Asia.\u201d
 
H.E. Mrs. ESTHER LUNGU, The First Lady of Zambia and Co-chairperson of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2021<\/strong> emphasized, \u201cWe are proud of our partnership with Merck Foundation, which started in 2019. In a very short period, we have been able to reshape the healthcare landscape of Zambia by enrolling and providing training to more than 90 young doctors with specialty training in the fields of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Respiratory, Acute medicines, Sexual and Reproductive Medicines, Fertility and Embryology. All of these fields are very critical and were lacking in our country. This will contribute to our battle against coronavirus and other diseases.\u201d
 
During his inauguration speech, The President of Zambia, H.E Dr. EDGAR CHAGWA LUNGU<\/strong> emphasized \u201cI am very glad to be hosting this important conference together with Merck Foundation, our long-term strategic partner. It is a great honor to inaugurate the conference alongside the First Ladies of Africa. I am certain that this conference will help us to further explore partnership opportunities and introduce new frameworks for cooperation in the area of health care capacity building and to define interventions to break infertility stigma and support girl education.\u201d
 
Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp, Chairman of both of Executive Board of E.Merck KG and Merck Foundation Board of Trustees <\/strong>expressed \u201cTogether, we continue to work in order to realize Merck Foundation\u2019s vision: \u2018Everyone in the world should lead a happy and fulfilling life\u2019. We have achieved together, a huge success and we are going to continue and extend our support to achieve more.\u201d<\/p>

The 8th Edition of the Luminary marked another important milestone: the 4th Anniversary of Merck Foundation.<\/strong>
 
As part of the Luminary, Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative Committee (MFFLI) High-Level Panel<\/strong> was conducted, which was attended by the 13 African First Ladies<\/strong>, who are the Ambassadors of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother.<\/strong>
 
The keynote address was delivered by H.E. Mrs. ESTHER LUNGU<\/strong>, The First Lady of the Republic of Zambia<\/strong> as the host and co-chairperson of the conference along with
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