Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com), the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany underscored their long-term commitment to build healthcare capacity and break infertility stigma in Maldives during their high-level meeting with H.E. Mrs. SAJIDHA MOHAMED, The First Lady of the Republic of Maldives, held at the Official Residence of the President. The discussion led by Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg Haverkamp, Chairman of Merck Foundation BOT and Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation.

Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej expressed, "It was an honor to meet my dear sister H.E. Mrs. SAJIDHA MOHAMED, The First Lady of the Republic of Maldives, and officially appointing her to be the Ambassador of "Merck Foundation More Than a Mother". During our meeting we discussed our joint programs and underscored our commitment towards building healthcare capacity and transforming patient care landscape by providing scholarships for local doctors. We also discussed about addressing critical social and health issues in the country including breaking the infertility stigma, stopping gender-based violence, women empowerment, and diabetes and hypertension awareness."

H.E. Mrs. SAJIDHA MOHAMED, The First Lady of the Republic of Maldives and Ambassador of "Merck Foundation More Than a Mother" expressed, "It is a pleasure to welcome and meet Merck Foundation Chairman and CEO to our country. We discussed our joint programs. I am happy to share that we have already started providing scholarships for our local doctors in Fertility and Embryology training. These are two very critical specialties for our country. We also plan to enroll our doctors in other specialties, further underscoring our partnership with the Merck Foundation to enhance healthcare capacity in the Maldives."

Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg Haverkamp, Chairman of Merck Foundation BOT shared, "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 patientcare landscape through our scholarships program. Till today, we have provided more than 2270 scholarships for young doctors from 52 countries in 44 critical and underserved specialties."

During their visit to the Maldives, the Chairman and CEO of Merck Foundation also met with Hon. Mr. Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim, Minister of Health, where they discussed scaling up the scholarship programs in alignment with the country's healthcare needs.

Through their Community Awareness Programs, Merck Foundation is also closely working with The First Lady of Maldives to address a wide range of critical social issues like breaking infertility stigma, stopping gender-based violence and women empowerment, and important health issues including promoting the importance of healthy lifestyle, and diabetes and hypertension awareness.

Merck Foundation will be soon conducting their Health Media Training together with The First Lady of Maldives for the Maldivian journalists, to emphasize on the important role that media plays to influence society to create a cultural shift and be the voice of the voiceless. The training program will be addressed by prominent Medical and Media experts.

Moreover, Merck Foundation in partnership with The First Lady of Maldives has also launched their 8 important Merck Foundation Awards for Maldivian Media, Musicians & Singers, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, and students & new potential talents in these fields.

"I invite the young talents from the Maldives to share their entries with us," added Senator Dr. Kelej.

Details of the Awards: