Merck Foundation calls for media awards applications

Merck Foundation (Merck-Foundation.com), the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, recently announced the opening of the application period for the Merck More Than a Mother Media Recognition Awards 2018.

The applications invite media professionals to showcase their work to raise awareness about infertility prevention and breaking infertility stigma in Africa. The awards were introduced last year to recognize outstanding health journalism and to recognize individual professional journalists who have produced accurate, informative, and compelling stories about infertile women or couples in Africa.

“I strongly believe in the critical role media play to sensitize communities. Therefore we have created these media awards with the aim to recognize the outstanding journalistic coverage that enhances the public engagement and understanding of infertility, breaking its stigma and emphasizing the need to change the social perception of it in African communities. We have also started two relevant hashtags #MenToo can suffer infertility not women only, and #NoForInfertilityStigma to appeal to all our media partners to start this movement across their platforms,” said Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO, Merck Foundation and President, Merck More Than a Mother.

Who can apply?

Journalists from print, online, radio and multimedia platforms.

Last date of submission:

Entries can be submitted till 31st March 2019.

How to apply?

Entries can be submitted via email to Mystory@MerckMoreThanAMother.com

Merck Foundation recently concluded a ceremony to announce the winners of the Merck More Than a Mother Media Recognition Awards 2017 in Nairobi, Kenya. The ceremony was attended by over 200 journalists from 17 African countries.

Here are the details of the first award winners from each category:

The Award from the Multimedia Segment was given to Ms. Namukabo L Werungah and her team from NTV Kenya for their excellent story, A tale of pain and shame of childless women in Busia.

The First Award from the Print Media Segment was received by Mr. Gardy Chacha, Senior Health and Science Reporter from Standard Newspaper, Kenya. He was selected for his soul-stirring story, Cecilia Wairimu: One woman, three marriages, 11 years of infertility.

The First Award from the Online Media Segment was given to Ms. Molatelo Mainetje, News and Current Affair Producer and Documentary Filmmaker from South Africa for her short film, Womb Man.

Ms. Asha Bakidusa, Journalist with Royal Media Services Limited, Under Bahari FM, Kenya was given the First Award for the Radio Segment for her program, How family men support their spouses in cases of infertility.

All the award winners were present during the ceremony to collect their award.

About Merck More Than a Mother campaign

In many cultures, childless women suffer discrimination, stigma, and ostracism. Their inability to have children results in great isolation, disinheritance, and assaults. Merck More Than a Mother empowers such women through the access to information, health, change of mindsets and economic empowerment.

As part of this campaign, we started Empowering Berna project in Africa to help childless and infertile women start their own business and thus achieve financial independence and become stronger and happier. The project has benefited more than 1,000 women across the continent.

Also, part of the campaign is our Merck Embryology & Fertility Training Program, a three-month hands-on practical course to establish the platform of fertility specialists across Africa and Asia.

Merck Foundation provided for more than 50 candidates, three months to six months clinical and practical training for fertility specialists and embryologists in more than 29 countries across Africa and Asia such as Chad, Niger, Central African Republic, Cote D’Ivoire , Ghana, Ethiopia , Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania , Zambia , Nigeria, Benin, Mali, Burkina Fuso, Senegal, Guinea Conakry, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cameron, Rwanda, Botswana,  DR Congo , Congo Brazzaville, Gambia , Nepal, Siri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Merck Foundation is making history in many African countries where they never had fertility specialists or specialized fertility clinics before Merck More Than a Mother’s intervention, to train the first fertility specialists such as in Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia, Niger, Chad, and Guinea.

Merck Foundation supported the establishment of the first public IVF centers in Ethiopia and Uganda through providing the clinical and practical training necessary for their staff. Merck Foundation also plans to support the establishment of the first public IVF in Tanzania soon.

Merck More Than a Mother launched in 2015 is a program of the Merck Foundation which drives many of our initiatives and programs in the area of building healthcare and research capacity and improves access to equitable healthcare solutions.

About Merck Foundation

The Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com), established in 2017, is the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people and advance their lives through science and technology. Our efforts are primarily focused on improving access to innovative healthcare solutions in underserved communities, building healthcare and scientific research capacity and empowering people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) with a special focus on women and youth.

All Merck Foundation press releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck Foundation Website.

Please go to www.Merck-Foundation.com to read more and/or register online to interact and exchange experience with our registered members.

About Merck

Merck (Merck.com) is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Almost 53,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life – from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2017, Merck generated sales of € 15.3 billion in 66 countries.

Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.