By IJEOMA UKAZU
To commemorate the 2022 World Heart Day, Merck Foundation together with African First Ladies has provided more than 720 scholarships for preventative cardiovascular, diabetes, and endocrinology to doctors from 45 African, and Asian countries.
These scholarships are included in the total 1450 scholarships Merck Foundation provided to doctors from 47 countries in 32 critical and underserved medical specialties such as oncology, fertility, respiratory medicine, acute medicine, orthopedics, and many more.
In a statement issued by Merck Foundation, Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, Sen. Dr. Rasha Kelej said that the partnership with African First Ladies, Ministries of Health, Medical Societies, and Academia, through their long-term commitment toward transforming patient
care landscape and building health care capacity in Africa, Asia, and beyond.
Dr. Kelej said the Foundation is marking this year’s events in a very unique way, that is by providing more than 720 scholarships of one-year Post-Graduate diplomas and two-year Master’s degrees in Preventative Cardiovascular Medicine, Diabetes, and Endocrinology to doctors from 45 countries.
She said “This would contribute to improving cardiovascular care in general since we focus on countries nationwide and not only the capitals. Moreover, I am also very proud that we have provided in total more than 1450 scholarships for one-year diplomas and two-year master’s degrees for doctors from 45 countries in 32 critical and underserved medical specialties
such as; acute care, Pediatric Emergency, Advanced Surgery, Intensive care, Fertility, Embryology, Oncology, Respiratory, and many more.
“This is a great milestone to improve patient access to quality and equitable healthcare solutions across Africa and beyond. This achievement is the highlight of my career and my life.”
So far, the Merck CEO said out of the 1450 scholarships, the Foundation has provided more than 120 scholarships for Cardiovascular care specialty training to young doctors from the following 23 countries: Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Philippines, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, UAE, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Dr. Tatenda Hamilton Tengwana, Merck Foundation alumnus from Zimbabwe says, “I always wanted to excel in my field and help patients suffering from heart diseases and other related issues and also help people to prevent heart disease if they are prone to it. I would like to thank Merck Foundation for making this dream a reality. I successfully completed my PG Diploma in Preventative Cardiovascular Medicine, the skills I gained from this program are tremendous and have helped me to gain confidence to treat cardiovascular patients in my country.
Telangana applauds Merck Foundation for supporting doctors like him who are eager to learn and serve their communities”.
Moreover, Merck Foundation together with African First Ladies has also introduced Awards for Media, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, Musicians/ Singers, and new potential talents in these fields from African countries to promote a healthy lifestyle and raise awareness about prevention and early detection of Diabetes and Hypertension.