Aerial view of African First Ladies who attended the Merck Foundation
First Ladies Initiative (MFFLI) Summit in 2019
Our Online Editor, Edem Mensah-Tsotorme, will depart Accra tomorrow evening for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, to cover the 9th edition of Merck Foundation Africa Asia Luminary which begins on Tuesday, November, 15 to Wednesday, November 16, 2022.
The inauguration session will see more than 16 African First Ladies as Guests of Honour, including Ghana’s First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo.
This session would take a critical look at the strategies and impact of Merck Foundation Partnership programmes in building healthcare capacity and their role to break infertility stigma and support girl education as Ambassador of Merck Foundation “More Than a Mother” and “Educating Linda” programmes followed by the questions and answers.
It would be followed by Merck Foundation Health Media Training on November 16, 2022, simultaneously with the scientific sessions.
Also, there would be the Merck Foundation Health Media Training as part of the Foundation’s “More than a Mother” Community Awareness Programme to be addressed by medical and media experts to emphasise the important role that media plays to influence the society to create a cultural shift with the aim to break infertility stigma, support girl education, stop gender-based violence, end child marriage, end female genital mutilation, and women empowerment at all levels.
It will also highlight the importance of increasing the awareness of early detection and prevention of diabetes and hypertension.
More than 6,000 healthcare providers, policy makers, academia, researchers and health media from Sub- Saharan Africa, more than 70 English, French, Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries will attend the two-day conference to benefit from valuable educational and social development sessions by top international experts in various fields.
Countries participating are Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Cambodia, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Guinea – Bissau, Guinea – Conakry, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, UK, UAE, Russia and Mexico among others.
Merck Foundation, established in 2017, is the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA, Germany that aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people to advance their lives through science and technology.
By Spectator Reporter