Group photo of Merck More than a Mother campaign partners |
Embryologists Training Program in partnership with
Indonesian Reproductive Science Institute (IRSI) as part of “Merck
More than a Mother” campaign with the aim to improve access to quality and safe
fertility care across the African continent.
Merck marks
today
the International Women’s Day , partnering with governments, parliamentarian,
academia, medical community, women leaders and media to empower infertile women
through improving access to information & healthcare and change of mind set
through it is “ More than a Mother “ campaign.
“Merck more than a Mother campaign, a pan-African initiative aims to build fertility
capacity, raise awareness about infertility prevention and male infertility. It
also opens a dialogue to define interventions to reduce the stigma and social
suffering of infertile women in Africa which includes discrimination and
physical and psychological violence.
“Countless women in Africa face fear, abuse and discrimination every day
simply because they are infertile,” said Belén Garijo, Member of the Executive
Board of Merck and CEO Healthcare. “After Kenya, we are proud to launch the More
than a Mother campaign in Uganda and work with the Ministry of Health, the
medical community and parliamentarians to change perceptions and reduce the
harsh social suffering of infertile women in Africa.” Garijo said.
The
campaign was first implemented in Kenya in 2015 and is being rolled out this
year in Uganda, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Uganda Women
Parliamentary association (UWOPA) and Africa Fertility Society (AFS) and
progressively rolled-out in more African countries.
Minister of State for Health
for Uganda, Hon. Sarah Opendi emphasized during her speech: “We are happy to
partner with reputable and innovative companies such as Merck. We believe that
“Merck More than a Mother” campaign addresses a very sensitive topic for the first
time in Africa, we all know it is there but no one wants to talk about it. This
initiative will help to empower infertile women by improving access to
information and change in the culture and mind set.”
“Most
Sub-Saharan African countries don’t have trained embryologists hence providing
training to our embryologists will contribute significantly to improve the
quality and accessibility to fertility care to couples in Uganda and Africa so
that they can start their families,” she added.
“Merck
More than a Mother” campaign is very important for African women and for Africa
at large as the inability to have a child or to become pregnant can result in
being greatly isolated, disinherited or assaulted. This may result in divorce
or physical and psychological violence.” said Rasha Kelej, Chief Social
Officer, Merck Healthcare.
“Merck
will provide training for African embryologists in Indonesia starting with
candidates from Uganda and Kenya and will scale up to the rest of the
continent. It will also provide education for healthcare providers which will
improve basic fertility management and improve awareness about prevention and
male infertility which is needed in Africa as can be seen below in the videos
of Berna and the Ugandan couple” Said Kelej.
Merck
joins hands with Indonesian Fertility experts to provide advanced embryology
training for African candidates starting by Kenya and Uganda and expanding to
the rest of Africa.
Dr
Ivans Sini, President of Indonesian Reproductive Science Institute (IRSI)
emphasized” we are very happy to partner
with Merck to provide this high technology training to develop African
embryologists to be able together to improve access to quality and safe
fertility care in Africa, it is a great idea and very proud to be part of it.
We are very excited to meet them next month”.
About
“Merck More than a Mother” campaign
According
to the World Health Organization (WHO), lower levels of development are thought
to be associated with higher levels of non-genetic and preventable causes of
infertility such as poor nutrition, untreated sexually transmitted infections
(STIs), unsafe abortion, consequence of infections caused by the practice of
female genital mutilation, exposure to smoking and to leaded petrol and other
environmental pollutants. Hence prevention awareness is very important.
Hon.
Betty Amongi, Chairperson of Uganda Women Parliamentary Association emphasized:
“We will partner with Merck and Ministry of Health to define policies to
improve access to safe and effective fertility care, address the need for
interventions to reduce stigmatization and social suffering of infertile women
and raise awareness about male infertility and the necessity for a team
approach to family building among couples”.
Dr. James
Olobo-Lalobo, Vice-President of Africa Fertility Society stressed: “We are very
happy to partner with Merck, through this historic campaign, “Merck More than a
Mother” where specialized practical
training for our embryologists will be provided and awareness about prevention
of infertility and male infertility will be raised across the continent for the
first time in history. Together with Merck, we can challenge the perception
about infertile women, their roles and worth in society, both within and beyond
the medical profession in order to achieve any systemic shift in the current
culture of gender discrimination in the context of fertility care”.
Dr.
Oladapo Adenrele Ashiru, President of Africa Fertility Society explained: “In
Nigeria where I practice, infertility is caused by infections in over 85% of
women, like in the rest of Africa, compared to 33% worldwide which emphasizes
the importance of prevention programs in Africa. Therefore, our partnership
with Merck is very essential to address this sensitive topic for the first time
in the continent”. “We are going to host this
important campaign in Nigeria and many other African countries this year,” he
added.
Hon. Sarah Opendi appointed Ambassador of “Merck More than a
Mother” for Uganda:
Hon Sarah Opendi appointed Ambassador of Merck More than a Mother |
Merck has also awarded
Berna Amullen, a Ugandan woman, who openly shared her story of stigmatization and suffering for being
infertile. The award was in recognition of her courage in creating awareness
and sharing her devastating experience so that no other woman would suffer the
same.
Hon.
Joyce Lay, a Member of Parliament and ambassador of the campaign in Kenya, has
joined hands with Uganda Ministry of Health and Uganda Women Parliamentary
Association to raise awareness about prevention of infertility and male
infertility. Lay emphasized: “In order to
improve access to safe and effective fertility care, a discussion with the
relevant authorities will be needed to discuss the strengthening of infertility
services, education, auditing, regulation, community awareness and the need to
integrate them in programs which already exist in the local health
infrastructure.”
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