By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
Merck Foundation in partnership with the First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa have launched three children storybooks aimed at fighting stigma against infertility, raising awareness about the coronavirus as well as empowering the girl child during an online summit held recently.
The three tiles are “Tudu’s Story” which emphasizes on the strong family values of love and respect from a young age which will reflect on eliminating the stigma of infertility and resulted domestic violence in the future then “Educating Rujeko Story” emphasizing on the importance of empowering girls through education and “Make the Right Choice Story”, which raises awareness about coronavirus prevention amongst children and youth as it provides facts about the pandemic and how to stay safe and healthy during the outbreak.
At least 30 000 copies of the three storybooks have been distributed to young readers, school students of Zimbabwe.
Merck Foundation, the First Lady together with Ministries of Health and Information also organized Health Media Training to educate media to be the voice of the voiceless and to break the stigma around infertility in Zimbabwe and rest of Africa.
CEO of Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, and the First Lady & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother, Auxillia Mnangagwa co-chaired 2021 Merck Foundation Zimbabwe Annual Summit via videoconference.
The summit was aimed at discussing their joint programs to transform patient care landscape in Zimbabwe via building healthcare capacity and raising awareness about breaking infertility stigma and support girl education.
Merck Foundation Alumni. Senator, Dr Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother emphasized: “I am very proud to tell you that in partnership with my dear sister, H.E. Mrs. AUXILLIA MNANGAGWA, The First Lady of Zimbabwe and Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother, we have provided 85 scholarships to young Zimbabwean doctors in various medical specialties like Fertility & Embryology, Oncology, Diabetes, Cardiovascular, Endocrinology, Sexual & Reproductive Medicine, Respiratory, Acute Medicines, Clinical Microbiology & infectious diseases and Oncology.
“By building professional healthcare capacity, we have been able to transform the landscape of patient care in Zimbabwe. This is a huge achievement for us. Today, I am very happy to meet our alumni and discuss their impact on improving the quality of healthcare in the country after receiving specialized medical scholarships provided by Merck Foundation. Moreover, I am equally excited to meet the winners of the Merck Foundation Media Recognition Awards and to discuss with them the significant role they have been playing to break the stigma around infertility, empowering girls and women through education, and raising awareness about coronavirus”.
The First Lady said: “I am happy to work closely with our long-time partner Merck Foundation, as through their programs, together we have been able to reshape the landscape of our healthcare sector and empower our healthcare providers and motivate them to provide better care to our people especially during this difficult time of Covid-19.
“More than 85 medical graduates have already completed or are undergoing training in various medical specialties.”
Merck Foundation has introduced 6 important Awards for Media, Fashion, Film, and Music fraternity.
Dr. Rasha Kelej explained, “After celebrating 27 Zimbabwean Media Winners of past editions of “Merck Foundation More Than a Mother” Media Recognition Awards and “Stay at Home” Media Recognition Awards, we are very excited to launch together with Her Excellency, the 2021 edition of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother Awards for our media, fashion, film making, and music fraternity to raise awareness on the important topics of breaking the stigma around infertility, underscoring the importance of girls’ education and women empowerment at all levels. Together, we are also announcing the Coronavirus theme-based awards for Media and Fashion fraternity, as this will help in raising awareness about continuing the best practices and also show support to our frontline workers in the country and the rest of Africa.”
About Author
