Merck Foundation CEO Meets Seven African First Ladies at 12th Africa Asia Luminary in The Gambia

Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary, in partnership with the Government of The Gambia. The conference was co-chaired by H.E. Mrs. FATOUMATTA BAH-BARROW, The First Lady of Gambia & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother and Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation & President of More Than a Mother. The First Lady of Senegal, H.E. Madam MARIE KHONE FAYE, along with The First Ladies of Burundi, Central Africa, Liberia, Nigeria, and São Tomé and Príncipe joined as the Guests of Honor and Keynote Speakers.

Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej (Ret.) expressed, “I am very happy to meet my dear sister, H.E. Madam MARIE KHONE FAYE, First Lady of the Republic of Senegal, and Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother”. We had a very meaningful discussion about our ongoing joint programs in the country to transform the public healthcare landscape and raise awareness about a wide range of social health issues. I am happy to share that we have so far provided 29 scholarships for Senegalese doctors in many specialties such as Oncology, Diabetes, Fertility, and Embryology. We also discussed scalping up of the programs.”

H.E. Madam MARIE KHONE FAYE, First Lady of the Republic of Senegal, and Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother” shared, “It is a great pleasure to partner and work closely with Merck Foundation. I deeply appreciate their programs, and I am very excited to share that together we have launched the Educating Linda program in my country, through which we are providing annual scholarships to 40 best performing schoolgirls who are underprivileged.

Moreover, Merck Foundation has provided 29 scholarships for our doctors across key specialties such as oncology, fertility, embryology and diabetes. All of these scholarships are of great importance and are helping us transform our patient care landscape.”