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Merck joins hands with African Universities, Ministries of Health to improve Cancer, Diabetes Care in Africa



Merck, the world’s oldest pharmaceutical and Chemical Company in partnership with University of Nairobi and Kenyatta National Hospital kicked off their first combined diabetes and cancer campaign in Nairobi, Kenya as part of Merck Cancer Control Program (MCCP). The program is a new initiative of Merck’s 5 year Capacity Advancement Program (CAP) which this year for the first time includes cancer.

The CAP initiative was launched by Merck in 2012 to expand healthcare capacity in the areas of research and development, supply-chain integrity and efficiency, pharmacovigilance, medical education, and community awareness in Africa and developing countries.

Through the newly launched combined community campaign, Merck aims to provide more than 2.000 people with free cancer education and diabetes screening to enable Kenyan to prevent the diseases and give them advice on how to lead healthier lives. By 2018 Merck aims to reach 100.000 community members through its combined diabetes and cancer awareness campaigns.

“The Merck Cancer Control Program (MCCP) aims to partner with top experts across the globe to assist African countries in implementing comprehensive cancer prevention and control programs,” said Belen Garijo, CEO of Merck Healthcare. ”This campaign is part of a very ambitious 5 year program, Merck Cancer Control Program- MCCP which will be rolled out in other African countries within the year and will be augmented by community awareness and strong educational programs for medical students across Africa.”

At the launch of the campaign H.E. Dr Evans Kidero, Governor of Nairobi stated that  Diabetes is a silent deadly disease , and it is growing rapidly in Kenya and across Africa and developing countries,  so as Cancer. Therefore I salute Merck for coming with the idea of conducting combined Cancer and Diabetes campaign since there are common risk factors between the two diseases and as well as the rest of NCDS  such as tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity”

“The challenges in health sector are diverse and resources are often limited hence we need to join hands with reputable partners such as Merck to fight this emerging threat from NCD like diabetes and Cancer through any support possible especially creating national capacity and increasing awareness of the threats and ways to prevent the diseases.” Dr Evans Kidero added

During her speech at the campaign, Rasha Kelej, Vice President and Head of Global Business Responsibility and Market development of Merck said “By partnering with Ministries of Health and universities in Africa to implement our Cancer Control Program as a new initiative of Merck’s CAP, we hope to quickly achieve our objective of building cancer healthcare capacities and reducing the socioeconomic burden of the disease in The continent and across the globe.”

About Merck Cancer Control Program - MCCP in Africa
 According to World Health Organization (WHO) by 2020 there are expected to be 16 million new cases of cancer every year, 70% of which will be in developing countries where governments are least prepared to address the growing cancer burden and where survival rates are often less than half those of more developed countries.” Rasha kelej added.

Merck Cancer Control Program (MCCP) is a new initiative of Merck’s 5 year Capacity Advancement Program (CAP) which now for the first time includes cancer. The main objective of the program is to advance cancer professional care capacities and reducing the socioeconomic burden of the disease in Africa and developing countries.

The Merck Cancer Control Program (MCCP) aims to partner with top experts across the globe to assist African countries in implementing comprehensive cancer prevention and control programs. This program will be rolled out in many African countries within the year and will be augmented by community awareness and strong educational programs for medical students across Africa.

More than 900 medical students including undergraduates, postgraduates, trainees, healthcare providers and oncologists have benefited from the training course that been provided by MCCP in partnership with, AFROX (Africa Oxford Cancer Foundation)  University of Nairobi,  Makerere university, Uganda Cancer Institute, Muhimbili University and Ocean Road Cancer Institute in Tanzania, to address how to improve access care in African rural areas, its

Merck Cancer Control Program – MCCP will define several interventions to help overcome some of the challenges of improving access to cancer care, with the aim to advance cancer professional capacity therefore reducing the socioeconomic burden of the disease in Africa and developing countries.

About Capacity Advancement Program (CAP)

Merck CAP is a 5 year program aiming to expand the professional capacity in developing countries in the areas of research and development, advocacy building, supply-chain integrity and efficiency, pharmacovigilance, medical education, and community awareness.

As part of the CAP, by end of 2015, more than 5,000 medical students in partnership with African universities such as University of Nairobi, Makerere University, Namibia University and University of Ghana, in addition to Asian universities such as Maharashtra university, India and University of Indonesia will benefit from European-accredited clinical chronic diseases management training, which is seeking to equip them with skills to better manage and prevent these diseases.

Merck is planning to target more than 19,000 students by the end of 2018 expanding to more African, Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern countries with special focus on non –communicable diseases such as Diabetes, cancer and fertility management. The program will also kick off initiatives on building research capacity and improving supply chain in order to improve patient safety in Africa.


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