Merck Foundation Marks 7th Anniversary of Their Partnership with Zimbabwe First Lady and Government to Transform Patient Care Landscape in Public Sector
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India & Harare, Zimbabwe – Business Wire India • Merck Foundation marked a milestone of providing 166 scholarships for Zimbabwean doctors in 44 critical specialties during their annual Alumni Summit – Celebrating 7 years of partnership between Merck Foundation and Zimbabwe First Lady and Government, and a remarkable legacy of transforming the country’s patient care landscape. • Merck Foundation Zimbabwe Alumni Summit and Awards Ceremony 2025 was conducted in Harare, chaired by Zimbabwe First Lady and Merck Foundation CEO and Chairman. • Merck Foundation Chairman and CEO recognized Zimbabwe First Lady for her great efforts as Ambassador of “Merck Foundation More Than a Mother” Campaign. Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany conducted the Merck Foundation Zimbabwe Annual Summit and Awards Ceremony 2025 in Harere, Zimbabwe, chaired by The First Lady of Zimbabwe, H.E. Amai Dr. AUXILLIA MNANGAGWA, Chairman of Merck Foundation Board of Trustees, Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp, and CEO of Merck Foundation, Dr. Rasha Kelej. Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej (Ret.), CEO of Merck Foundation and President of “More Than a Mother” Campaign emphasized, “It is a great honor to meet my dear sister, H.E. Amai Dr. AUXILLIA MNANGAGWA, First Lady of the Republic of Zimbabwe and to recognize her for her tremendous efforts as the Ambassador of “Merck Foundation More Than a Mother”. We celebrated our seven-year partnership journey and discussed our joint programs to build healthcare and media capacity, empower infertile women, and support girl education. Together, we reflected on our remarkable achievements and marked an important milestone of success and impact since 2018. I am very proud to share that we have transformed the patient care landscape of Zimbabwe by providing 166 scholarships for the local doctors in 44 critical and underserved specialties such as Fertility, Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Respiratory, Acute Medicine, Sexual and Reproductive care, Embryology, Critical care, Psychiatry, and many more. This is a huge milestone and revolution in patient care across Zimbabwe. Moreover, it was a pleasure to honor the Zimbabwean winners of Merck Foundation Media Awards 2022 – 2024 and discuss with them the critical role they can play to create a culture shift, be the voice of the voiceless and be the Merck Foundation health and social champions.” Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg Haverkamp, Merck Foundation Board of Trustees emphasized, “Our aim is to improve the overall health and wellbeing of people by building healthcare capacity across Africa, Asia and other developing countries. We are strongly committed to transforming the patient care landscape through our scholarships program.” H.E. Amai Dr. AUXILLIA MNANGAGWA, First Lady of the Republic of Zimbabwe and the Ambassador of “Merck Foundation More Than a Mother” expressed, “It is a great pleasure to welcome and meet the Chairman and CEO of Merck Foundation in our country. Together we celebrated an important milestone of the great success of our joined programs and also shared the impact of our 7-year partnership journey that we have with Merck Foundation to build healthcare capacity, transform patient care, break infertility stigma and support girl education in our country since 2018. In a very short time, Merck Foundation has provided 166 scholarships for our young doctors in many specialties which are very critical for us. Moreover, together we are providing annual scholarships to support the education of 40 high-performing yet underprivileged schoolgirls, till they graduate, as a part of the Educating Linda Program. This is for the first time that we work on such an impactful program, it is history in the making.” Merck Foundation has provided more than 2400 scholarships for healthcare providers from 52 countries in 44 critical and underserved medical specialties. Out of the total 166 scholarships provided in Zimbabwe, Merck Foundation has provided: • 60 scholarships for doctors in Diabetes, Endocrinology, Cardiology, Cardiovascular Preventive, and Obesity & Weight Management. This represents a significant number of experts in the public healthcare system addressing the lifestyle-related health issues that are on the rise in our country and the rest of Africa. • 48 scholarships have been provided for Fertility, Embryology, and the one-year diploma and two-year master’s degree programs in Sexual & Reproductive Care, Women’s Health, Family Medicine and Psychiatry. • 58 scholarships have been provided for critical yet underserved specialties, including Oncology and Cancer care, Respiratory Care, Acute Medicine, Pain Management, Infectious Diseases, Dermatology, Psychiatry, Neurosurgery, Neurology, Neuroimaging for Research, Pediatrics, Gastroenterology, Orthopedics, Critical Care, Care for Older Person and Rheumatology. During the Summit, Merck Foundation Awards Ceremony was held, during which 13 Winners of
