Merck Foundation (MF), a non-profit company and subsidiary of Merck KGaA Germany, and the University of Malaya (UM), Malaysia’s oldest and most established institution of higher learning, signed a Memorandum of Understanding today aimed at providing fellowship training for postgraduate medical trainees from Africa and other developing countries.The signing ceremony was witnessed by YB Datuk Dr. Mary Yap Kain Ching, Deputy Minister of Higher Education Malaysia.
Here is some information about their partnership:
1. From India to Malaysia, Merck Foundation continues their collaborative efforts to build healthcare capacity in Africa and developing countries.
2. Merck Foundation (MF) announces the “Merck Diabetes Award” and “Merck Hypertension Award” 2017 winners from Malaysia.
3. Over 30,000 medical graduates from more than 35 countries have benefited from the foundation’s partnership with universities and governments of many nations across Asia and Africa.
4. In 2017, over 100 candidates from Africa and Asia received their fellowship and training in Oncology, Diabetes and Hypertension, and Infertility.
In 2017 alone, MF initiated the following activities in partnership with academia,
ministries of health and the offices of First Ladies in more than 35 countries:
Merck Cancer Access Program:
Over 30 African physicians received oncology fellowship programmes spanning one to two years, in a bid to help increase the limited number of oncologists in Africa.
Merck More Than A Mother:
More than 30 candidates received three-month hands-on training to be embryologists and fertility specialists in Africa and Asia to improve quality, regulated and safe fertility care in developing countries.
Merck Diabetes and Hypertension Awards:
Over 50 medical postgraduates will receive a one-year online diploma in diabetes or preventive cardiovascular medicines, as part of the effort to establish a platform of diabetes and hypertension experts in Africa and Asia.
The awards encouraged participants from African and Asian medical universities to propose innovative concepts for improving early detection and prevention of diabetes and hypertension in their countries. The awards featured their own themes, namely, “Every Day is a Diabetes Day” and “What the Healthy Heart Needs”.
YBhg. Datuk Ir. (Dr.) Abdul Rahim Hashim, Vice-Chancellor, University Of Malaya, remarked that UM readily welcomed the collaboration with MF. He said, “Many of our own medical professionals have, in the past, benefited from training in the United Kingdom and Australia. It befalls us to reach out and help others now.
“For UM, the partnership with MF reaffirms our standing and role as Malaysia’s oldest and most established higher learning institution. It also contributes towards our nation’s aspiration of gaining global prominence as an international education hub with a difference.”