The Merck Foundation announces the winners of the 2017 Merck More than One Mother Media Recognition Award –

The Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com) launches the hashtags #MenToo and #NoForInfertilityStigma to break the stigma of infertility. The Merck Foundation launches three songs to raise awareness about male infertility by Octopizzo, Susan Owiyo, Rozzy and Tom Close, African singers from Kenya, Sierra Leone and Rwanda. The Merck Foundation launches a call for applications for the Media Recognition Award "Merck More than a Mother" 2018.

The Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, honored the winners of the Media Recognition Awards "Merck more than a mother" 2017 at an awards ceremony held yesterday in Nairobi, Kenya. The awards were given to recognize and appreciate professional journalists and media students who have produced accurate, informative and compelling stories about infertility, women or infertile couples.

"We are pleased to honor the winners of the 2017 'Merck more than a Mother' Media Recognition Awards. I congratulate all the winners and thank all the journalists and students who sent us their work. I strongly believe that the media can play an important role in raising awareness of sensitive issues such as infertility and stigma associated with it. It could help raise awareness about male infertility and the prevention of infertility. We also started two relevant hashtags #MenToo men too can suffer from infertility not just women, and #NoForInfertilityStigma (not for the stigma of infertility) to do appeal to all our media partners to launch this movement across their broad platforms, "said Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of the Merck Foundation and President of Merck More Than a Mother .

"Not only the media but also art have the ability and influence to make the problem feel, which further stimulates emotions and leads to engagement. So we collaborated with famous singers; Suzanna Owíyo and Octopizzo from Kenya, Tom Close from Rwanda and Rozzy from Sierra Leone to launch three thematic songs: " Warriors "," Life Is Greater "," More Than a Mother " addressing the problem with a special focus on male infertility to encourage men to freely talk about their infertility and join the treatment journey with their wives. The songs were launched yesterday at the awards ceremony and I personally believe that they will bring significant added value to influence the culture change that we advocate at all levels, "added Dr. Rasha Kelej .

The jury panel consisted of Tom Mshindi Editor-in-Chief, Nation Media Group, William Pike Director of Radio Africa Group / Star Publications, ] Renee Ngamau radio host / life coach, Capital FM and Carole Mandi founder / publisher, Carole Mandi Media and chaired by Rasha Kelej CEO of the Merck Foundation and President of Merck More Than a Mother

"These awards and prizes encouraged journalists and the media to focus on infertility and the stigma attached to it, which is widespread in Africa but never talked about. . Mostly women are accused of infertility, but it is for the media to educate now that fertility is a shared responsibility and men too can be the cause of infertility, " Tom Mshindi, editor Chief, Nation Media Group.

"The Merck Foundation is doing the hard work of challenging the perception of infertile women, their role and value in society in order to change the culture of discrimination. These awards go in the same direction, " William Pike, Director of Radio Africa Group / Star Publications

Presented at the Awards Ceremony, Hon. Sarah Opendi, Uganda's Minister of Health exclaimed with delight, "I am so pleased to see the Merck Foundation is making efforts on many levels to break the stigma around infertility. The partnership with the media and art is indeed a very smart step to solve this sensitive problem.

Here are the details of the first prize-winners in the category of professional journalists in each segment:

The first prize of Multimedia segment was awarded to Ms. Namukabo L Werungah and her team from NTV Kenya for their excellent story entitled "A Tale of Pain and Shame of Childless Women in Busia" . The team was rewarded with 5000 US Dollars at the ceremony.

The second prize was awarded to Mr. Musaka Abdalla Tiff of Record TV Network, Uganda, for his story entitled "Living with the burden Sterility. "

The first prize of print media segment was received by Mr. Gardy Chacha, Senior Reporter in Health and Science, Standard Newspaper, Kenya. He was selected for his moving story entitled "Cecilia Wairimu: A Woman, Three Marriages, 11 Years of Infertility" . He was rewarded with US $ 1,500.

The second prize was awarded to Mr. Mashaka Bonifas Mgeta of Jambo Lee News, Tanzania, for his article entitled "Infertility Favors Violence against Women" to

The Online Media Segment was awarded first prize to Ms. Molatelo Mainetje, Newspaper and News Producer and Documentary Director of South Africa for his short film entitled "Man in the bowels" . She was rewarded with US $ 1,500.

The second prize was awarded to Ms. Maryanne Waweru-Wanyama, blogger – mother's tales and advocate for maternal health, Kenya for her story "Better than the birth of d 'a crazy man, never to have given birth at all'.

Ms Asha Bakidusa, Royal Media Services Limited Journalist, Sous Bahari FM, Kenya, received the First Prize of Radio Segment for his program entitled "How the men of the family support their spouse in cases of infertility" . She was rewarded with 1,500 US Dollars.

Here are the details of the first prize winners of the media student category in each segment:

The first prize of the online media segment was written by Lilian Kaivilu, freelance journalist and founder of Impact Hub Media, a student in linguistic media and communication at the University MOI of Kenya, for her report entitled "The anger of sterility in culture Kamba ". She was awarded with US $ 1,000.

The second prize went to Ms. Stephanie Odhiambo of the Everest Media Solution at Day Star University, Kenya, to tell the story of "The CEO of the Merck Foundation, Rasha Kelej, is on the way to fight for infertile women. "

The first prize of segment of print media will be awarded to Mr. Sérgio Simão Raimundo Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique. He was selected for his story entitled "Infertility in Southern Mozambique" . He was rewarded with US $ 1,000.

The Merck Foundation announced the call for applications for the 2018 "Merck More than a Mother" Media Recognition Award at the end of the ceremony and encouraged all media to advocate for the campaign and to apply for the competition.

The award ceremony is to be followed by the Merck Foundation's first Merck Health Media Training health media training to break down the stigma surrounding infertility and increase awareness of the topic. male infertility. It will be held today, July 10, 2018. Its purpose is to train African journalists on international standards and media ethics to report sensitive topics such as infertility.

About "Merck more than a mother" campaign

In many cultures, childless women suffer discrimination, stigma and ostracism. Their inability to have children causes great isolation, exhiseration and aggression. "Merck more than a Mother" empowers these women through access to information, health, change of mentality and economic empowerment.

As part of this campaign, we launched the project " Empowering Berna "in Africa to help infertile and childless women start their own business and become financially independent and grow stronger and happier. The project has benefited more than 1,000 women across the continent.

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

The Merck Foundation has provided more than 50 candidates, three months to six months of clinical and practical training to fertility specialists and embryologists in more than 29 countries. Africa and Asia such as: Chad, Niger, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Nigeria, Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Guinea Conakry, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cameroon, Rwanda, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Gambia, Nepal, Siri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Cambodia

The Merck Foundation enters the history of many African countries where it never had specialists in fertility or specialized fertility clinics before the intervention of "Merck More than a Mother" to train the first fertility specialists such as; in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Gambia, Niger, Chad and Guinea.

The Merck Foundation supported the establishment of the first public IVF centers in Ethiopia and Uganda by providing the necessary clinical and practical training for their staff. The 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, the foundation piloting many of our initiatives and programs in the area of ​​strengthening health care and research capacity and improving access to equitable health care solutions.

Distributed by APO Group for Merck Foundation.

Contact:
Sakshi Tyagi
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The Merck Foundation (Merck-Foundation.com), established in 2017, is a philanthropic organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of people and advancing their lives through science and technology. Our efforts are focused on improving access to innovative health care solutions in underserved communities, building health care and scientific research capacity, and empowering people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). , with a focus on women and youth. All Merck Foundation press releases are distributed by email as soon as they become available on the Merck Foundation website. Go to Merck-Foundation.com to learn more and / or to register online and to chat and exchange experiences with our registered members.
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Merck (MerckGroup.com) is a leading science, technology, healthcare, life sciences and performance materials company. Approximately 50,000 employees work to develop life-enhancing technologies – from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, state-of-the-art systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD TVs. In 2016, Merck generated sales of 15.0 billion euros in 66 countries.
Merck, which was founded in 1668, is the world's leading pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly traded group of companies. Merck holds the worldwide rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are in the United States and Canada where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.

Source: APO