“Together We Will Transform Healthcare,” Says Merck Foundation CEO at Gabon Summit

Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, has reinforced its long-term partnerships to enhance healthcare capacity and education programmes through a high-level meeting between Dr Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation, and H.E. Madam Zita Oligui Nguema, First Lady of the Gabonese Republic and Ambassador of Merck Foundation’s “More Than a Mother” initiative. The meeting took place during the 7th Edition of the Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative Summit 2025.

Dr Kelej highlighted the progress of their joint programmes in Gabon, stating, “Together, we have begun providing scholarships for young doctors in the fields of oncology and diabetes care. This is just the beginning of our efforts to transform the public healthcare landscape in the country, and we will continue to scale up the number of scholarships.”

Madam Zita Oligui Nguema added, “Our partnership with Merck Foundation, though initiated only last year, has already begun to yield meaningful outcomes. We are enrolling local doctors for scholarships and supporting girl education through the ‘Educating Linda’ programme, which provides annual scholarships to 20 high-performing underprivileged girls, enabling them to pursue their career aspirations.”

On the second day of the Summit, the Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative (MFFLI) committee convened, with African and Asian First Ladies sharing impact reports on Merck Foundation programmes in their countries and discussing strategies for future initiatives.

Dr Kelej reaffirmed the Foundation’s commitment to healthcare capacity building, noting that over 2,500 scholarships have been awarded to doctors across 52 countries in 44 underserved medical specialties, with more enrolments planned in partnership with Gabon’s Ministry of Health.

In addition, the Foundation, alongside the Office of the First Lady of Gabon, conducted its inaugural Health Media Training to strengthen the capacity of local media representatives in raising awareness on critical social and health issues, including ending gender-based violence, promoting girl education and women’s empowerment, and addressing non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.

Merck Foundation also announced the call for applications for eight awards in partnership with the First Lady of Gabon, recognising excellence among media professionals, musicians, fashion designers, filmmakers, students, and emerging talents. Furthermore, seven children’s storybooks have been launched in French to educate young audiences on social and health issues, including infertility stigma, gender-based violence, and chronic disease awareness.

Since 2012, Merck Foundation has been transforming patient care and creating a culture shift in Africa and underserved communities through:

• 2,500+ scholarships for doctors in critical and underserved medical specialties across 52 countries.
• Training over 3,700 media professionals from more than 35 countries.
• Launching eight annual awards in media, fashion, film and music.
• Producing around 30 songs addressing health and social issues by local artists.
• Publishing nine children’s storybooks in English, French and Portuguese.
• Producing six awareness animation films in five languages.
• Broadcasting the Pan-African TV programme Our Africa by Merck Foundation on social and health issues.
• Providing 1,040+ scholarships to high-performing underprivileged African schoolgirls across 18 countries.
• Maintaining 15 social media channels with over 8 million followers.