BY MUNYARADZI BLESSING DOMA
The Merck Foundation has officially launched the 13th edition of the Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary 2026, bringing together First Ladies, healthcare experts, policymakers and development partners to strengthen healthcare systems and tackle pressing social and health challenges across Africa and Asia.
The two-day conference, held virtually on June 18 and 19, was inaugurated by Merck Foundation Board of Trustees Chairman Professor Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp and Merck Foundation CEO Dr. Rasha Kelej alongside First Ladies from 12 African and Asian countries serving as Guests of Honour and keynote speakers.
Speaking during the opening session, Dr. Kelej said the annual gathering provides an important platform to exchange experiences and assess the impact of programmes designed to improve patient care and raise awareness of critical health and social issues.
“It is a great privilege to welcome our distinguished Guests of Honour and keynote speakers, the First Ladies of Africa and Asia, who are the Ambassadors of our ‘More Than a Mother’ campaign.
“Together, we exchanged valuable experiences and engaged in meaningful discussions on the impact of our programmes aimed at transforming patient care and raising awareness of a wide range of critical social and health issues,” said Dr Kelej.
Prof. Dr. Stangenberg-Haverkamp reaffirmed the foundation’s commitment to improving access to equitable healthcare through strategic partnerships with governments, healthcare professionals and academic institutions.
He thanked participating First Ladies, ministers, policymakers and healthcare experts for supporting initiatives that seek to build medical capacity and improve health outcomes across underserved communities.
The conference brought together First Ladies from Angola, Botswana, Cabo Verde, the Central African Republic, Gabon, The Gambia, Kenya, Liberia, Maldives, Mozambique, Nigeria and São Tomé and Príncipe.
Dr. Kelej highlighted that the Merck Foundation has awarded more than 2,600 scholarships to healthcare providers from 52 countries across 44 underserved medical specialties, with many graduates becoming the first specialists in their respective nations. She added that over 800 of those scholarships have focused on fertility, embryology, reproductive medicine, psychiatry, women’s health, urology and related disciplines, helping to expand access to specialised care in 42 countries.
The event also marked World Infertility Awareness Month through the foundation’s “More Than a Mother” campaign, which seeks to empower infertile and childless women by improving access to health information, education and advocacy while challenging stigma associated with infertility.
In addition, participants celebrated the ninth anniversary of the Merck Foundation and 14 years since the launch of its development programmes. The inaugural session attracted more than 800 participants from 57 English-, French- and Portuguese-speaking countries, while the online livestream reached more than 220,000 viewers worldwide.
According to the foundation, its initiatives extend beyond medical training to include media capacity building, educational scholarships for schoolgirls, awareness campaigns, children’s storybooks and artistic projects designed to address health and social challenges across Africa and other underserved regions.
