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Tuesday, February 5, 2019

World Cancer Day: Merck seeks equitable cancer care for Africans - NaijaAgroNet

The Merck Foundation provides one and two year Oncology Fellowship Program to African doctors to be the future oncologists in their countries; Merck Foundation commits to long term partnership with African ministries of Health and first ladies to build cancer care capacity in the continent, reports NaijaAgroNet.

Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany marks ‘World Cancer Day 2019’ themed ‘I am and I will’ through their Cancer Access Program with the aim to improve patient’s access to quality and equitable cancer care in Africa.

“We are committed to lead Africa to a better future through changing the landscape of Cancer care in the continent. We have been actively working to achieve objectives of building professional capacity with the aim to increase the limited number of oncologists” emphasized Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation.

“The lack of financial means is not the only challenge, I strongly believe the scarcity of trained health care personnel is the main challenge, therefore our main strategy is to establish a strong platform of specialized oncologists across the continent, specifically in countries where there is not even a single oncologists till today, such as: Gambia, Central African Republic, Liberia, Guinea Conakry and Sierra Leone.  They need them to tackle the prevention, early diagnosis and management of cancer at all levels of the health care systems. Through this program, Merck Foundation has enrolled and provided clinical training in Oncology to 57 candidates from more than 21 African countries. We will soon scale up and strengthen our efforts and activities in more countries”, emphasized Dr. Rasha Kelej.

Merck Foundation through its Merck Cancer Access Program has provided training to over 57 candidates from Botswana, Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Kenya, Liberia, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.


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