{"id":8206,"date":"2026-02-05T16:36:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T12:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=8206"},"modified":"2026-04-22T13:06:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T09:06:22","slug":"message-from-ceo-of-merck-foundation-dr-rasha-kelej-on-marking-world-cancer-day-2026-by-building-oncology-care-capacity-through-258-cancer-care-scholarships-across-34-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/?p=8206","title":{"rendered":"Message from CEO of Merck Foundation, Dr. Rasha Kelej on Marking World Cancer Day 2026 by building Oncology Care Capacity through 258 cancer care Scholarships across 34 countries"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"666\" src=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Thumbnail_English.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8207\" style=\"width:1026px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Thumbnail_English.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Thumbnail_English-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Thumbnail_English-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Thumbnail_English-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure><p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em><strong>Merck Foundation Chairman and CEO with the First Ladies of Africa and Asia during the Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative Summit 2025\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p><p>At Merck Foundation, we mark World Cancer Day through our sustained, everyday efforts to transform cancer care in Africa by\u00a0<strong>addressing one of its most critical gaps: late diagnosis and the shortage of trained specialists.<\/strong><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1008\" height=\"1008\" src=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cancer-Day-English-7.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8208\" style=\"width:1026px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cancer-Day-English-7.jpg 1008w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cancer-Day-English-7-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cancer-Day-English-7-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cancer-Day-English-7-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cancer-Day-English-7-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cancer-Day-English-7-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1008px) 100vw, 1008px\" \/><\/figure><p>Together with my dear sisters, the&nbsp;<strong>African First Ladies<\/strong>, we have strengthened cancer care capacity in the continent by providing&nbsp;<strong>258 Oncology Scholarships for healthcare providers from 34 African and Asian countries, significantly increasing the number of trained oncologists and developing the multidisciplinary cancer care teams.<\/strong>&nbsp;In several of these countries, there wasn\u2019t even a single oncologist.<\/p><p>We are very proud that we are making history by training the first oncologists and first multidisciplinary cancer care teams in many countries like&nbsp;<strong>The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Liberia, Guinea Conakry, Central African Republic, Chad, Niger, and many more.<\/strong><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cancer-Day-English-1-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8209\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cancer-Day-English-1-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cancer-Day-English-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cancer-Day-English-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cancer-Day-English-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cancer-Day-English-1-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cancer-Day-English-1-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Cancer-Day-English-1.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><p>Overall, we have provided more than<strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>2500 scholarships for healthcare providers from 52 countries in 44 critical<\/strong>&nbsp;and underserved specialities.<\/p><p>As part of our&nbsp;Cancer Access Program, we have provided&nbsp;<strong>258 Scholarships for healthcare providers from 34 countries<\/strong>&nbsp;as per the following:<\/p><p>We are&nbsp;establishing Multidisciplinary Oncology Care teams in many African countries by providing scholarships of One year clinical training in most of oncology sub- specialties such as;&nbsp;<strong>Medical Oncology, Surgical Oncology, Pediatrics Oncology, Gynecology Oncology, Breast Oncology, Haemato-Oncology, Orthopedic Oncology, Palliative Care, Pathology Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Research in Oncology, Genital Urinary oncology, Advanced Cytopathology Training, Interventional Radiology, Radiation Technician, Laboratory Technician, Oncology Nursing.<\/strong><\/p><p>Moreover, we provide&nbsp;<strong>One-year and Two-year Post Graduate Diploma and Master Degree of Cancer and Clinical Oncology, Medical Oncology and Pain Management from reputed Universities in UK like University of South Wales, University of Buckingham, Queen Mary University of London, and Cardiff University.<\/strong><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Senator-Dr-Rasha-Kelej-CEO-of-Merck-Foundation-with-Oncology-Alumni2-1-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Senator-Dr-Rasha-Kelej-CEO-of-Merck-Foundation-with-Oncology-Alumni2-1-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Senator-Dr-Rasha-Kelej-CEO-of-Merck-Foundation-with-Oncology-Alumni2-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Senator-Dr-Rasha-Kelej-CEO-of-Merck-Foundation-with-Oncology-Alumni2-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Senator-Dr-Rasha-Kelej-CEO-of-Merck-Foundation-with-Oncology-Alumni2-1-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Senator-Dr-Rasha-Kelej-CEO-of-Merck-Foundation-with-Oncology-Alumni2-1-600x399.jpg 600w, https:\/\/rasha-kelej.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Senator-Dr-Rasha-Kelej-CEO-of-Merck-Foundation-with-Oncology-Alumni2-1.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em><strong>Dr. Rasha Kelej with Merck Foundation Alumni<\/strong><\/em><\/p><p>The 34 countries include B<strong>otswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, S\u00e3o Tom\u00e9 and Pr\u00edncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.<\/strong><\/p><p>According to WHO data (2022), Africa sees roughly<strong>&nbsp;1.1 million new cancer cases and up to about 700,000 cancer deaths each year.<\/strong>&nbsp;Cancer mortality rates in Africa are much higher than in many other regions of the world, reflecting late diagnosis, limited access to care, and gaps in health systems. Therefore, our&nbsp;oncology scholarships play a critically important role in strengthening cancer care capacity across the continent.<\/p><p>Nearly two-thirds of cancer cases can be successfully treated when diagnosed early, and up to one-third can be prevented by reducing key risk factors such as exposure to radiation, certain infections, and lifestyle-related causes.<\/p><p>To raise awareness about it, we have recently launched a children storybook and its adaptive&nbsp;<strong>animation film \u201cRay of Hope\u201d,<\/strong>&nbsp;in partnership with African First Ladies. The story deals with childhood cancer and highlights the critical importance of early detection and access to well-trained cancer care teams capable of recognizing early warning signs.<\/p><p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Merck Foundation Chairman and CEO with the First Ladies of Africa and Asia during the Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative Summit 2025\u00a0 At Merck Foundation, we mark World Cancer Day through our sustained, everyday efforts to transform cancer care in Africa by\u00a0addressing one of its most critical gaps: late diagnosis and the shortage of trained [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8207,"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":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","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":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","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 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