Merck Foundation and Nigeria’s First Lady Partner to Build Healthcare Capacity, Promote Girl Education, and Break Infertility Stigma
The Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening healthcare capacity, supporting girl education, and tackling infertility stigma in Nigeria during a high-level meeting with Her Excellency Senator Oluremi Tinubu, CON, First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Led by Prof. Dr Frank Stangenberg Haverkamp, Chairman of the Merck Foundation Board of Trustees, and Senator Dr Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation, the discussions focused on expanding long-term partnerships to enhance medical training, social awareness, and community health outcomes.
Dr Rasha Kelej highlighted the Foundation’s efforts, noting, “It is a privilege to appoint Her Excellency as Ambassador of ‘Merck Foundation More Than a Mother’. To date, we have provided 63 scholarships for Nigerian doctors across 42 critical and underserved medical specialties, underscoring our dedication to improving healthcare delivery in the country.”
The Foundation has sponsored scholarships in diverse fields, including fertility, embryology, sexual and reproductive medicine, diabetes, cardiology, oncology, psychiatry, dermatology, and many others. Notably, eight scholarships have supported reproductive health disciplines, while 38 focused on diabetes and cardiovascular care, enabling doctors to establish specialised clinics in their communities.
Complementing medical capacity building, the Merck Foundation’s ‘Educating Linda’ programme has sponsored the education of 20 high-performing but underprivileged Nigerian schoolgirls, promoting equitable access to education.
The Foundation has also conducted three editions of online health media training for Nigerian journalists, emphasising the vital role media plays in shaping public attitudes on social and health issues such as infertility stigma, women empowerment, ending child marriage and female genital mutilation, and combating gender-based violence.
First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu expressed her support, stating, “I am pleased to learn about Merck Foundation’s impactful programmes and am fully committed to scaling up these initiatives to benefit our people.”
The Foundation has also partnered with the First Lady to launch eight Merck Foundation Awards for media, musicians, fashion designers, filmmakers, and students, aimed at inspiring creative contributions that raise awareness on infertility stigma, women empowerment, and prevention of diabetes and hypertension. The submission deadlines for these awards range from 30 September to 30 October 2025.
Prof. Dr Frank Stangenberg Haverkamp reaffirmed the Foundation’s mission: “Our goal is to improve health and wellbeing by building healthcare capacity across Africa and beyond, providing over 2,282 scholarships to young doctors from 53 countries to date.”
For more information and to submit entries for the awards, visit www.Merck-Foundation.com or email submit@merck-foundation.com.
