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Business Upturn
2 days ago
- Health
- Business Upturn
Merck Foundation Chairman, CEO, and 14 First Ladies Inaugurate the 7th Edition of Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative – MFFLI Summit in Dubai
By Business Wire India Published on June 19, 2025, 15:06 IST Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, conducted the 7th Edition of Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative – MFFLI Summit 2025 on 19th and 20th June in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp, Chairman of Merck Foundation Board of Trustees, and Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative along with The First Ladies of 14 African and Asian countries, who joined as the Guests of Honor and Keynote Speakers. Senator Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and President of 'Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative' emphasized, 'It is my great honor to welcome our esteemed Guests of Honor and Keynote Speakers, The First Ladies of Africa and Asia, and Ambassadors of our 'More Than a Mother' campaign to the 7th Edition of the Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative – MFFLI Summit. Through this important platform, we have collectively exchanged valuable experiences and engaged in meaningful discussions on the impact of our programs, which are aimed at transforming patient care and raising awareness of a wide range of critical social and health issues.' Prof. Dr. Frank Stangenberg Haverkamp, Chairman of Merck Foundation Board of Trustees, added, 'At Merck Foundation, our goal is improving overall health and well-being by building healthcare capacity and by providing access to quality & equitable healthcare solutions in Africa, Asia and beyond. I would like to sincerely thank our Ambassadors and partners. Together, with your unwavering support and collaboration, we will continue to work towards our vision of a world where everyone can lead a healthy and happy life.' The First Ladies of 14 countries, who are also the Ambassadors of 'Merck Foundation More Than a Mother', joined as Guests of Honor and Keynote Speakers. They are: Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej stated, 'I am proud to share that Merck Foundation has provided more than 2280 scholarships for young doctors from 52 countries in 44 critical and underserved specialties. Many of our Merck Foundation Alumni are becoming the first specialists in their countries. Together with our Ambassadors and Partners, we are making history and transforming the patient care landscape across Africa and beyond. Many of them are becoming the first specialists in their countries.' 'During our Conference, we also marked together the World Infertility Awareness Month, observed in June, through our signature campaign 'Merck Foundation More Than a Mother', which aims to empower infertile and childless women by providing access to information, education, and change of mindset. I am happy to share that out of the total 2280 scholarships, more than 700 scholarships have been provided for training in Fertility, Embryology, Sexual and Reproductive Medicine, Clinical Psychiatry, Women's Health, Urology, Laparoscopic Surgical Skills, and Family Medicine, to improve access to fertility care and women's health', she further added. During the 7th Edition of Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative -MFFLI Summit, two important occasions were marked: the 8th Anniversary of Merck Foundation and 13 years of Merck Foundation's development programs that started in 2012. On the first day, the Plenary Session of the Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative -MFFLI Summit took place, featuring a high-level panel discussion with the participating First Ladies of Africa and Asia. Moreover, a high-level ministerial panel discussion was held with African Ministers and top healthcare experts from across the globe. On Day 2 of the conference, three key parallel sessions will be held: Two medical and scientific sessions covering Oncology and Fertility Topics, and a community awareness session, Merck Foundation Health Media Training. This session will emphasize the critical role of the media in influencing communities and driving cultural change, with regards to a wide range of social and health issues like Breaking Infertility Stigma, Supporting Girls' Education, Stopping GBV, Ending Child Marriage & FGM, Empowering Women, Diabetes and Hypertension Awareness. The conference is being conducted in a hybrid format, enabling over 6,000 audiences from more than 70 countries to benefit, meet and discuss strategies and solutions for the health and social challenges in their countries safely and effectively. Countries participating in the 7th Edition of Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative: Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central Africa Republic, Cambodia, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Guinea – Bissau, Guinea – Conakry, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, The Gambia, Togo, Tunisia, U.A.E, UK, Uganda, US, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe and more. The 7th Edition of Merck Foundation First Ladies Initiative is streamed live on the social media handles of Merck Foundation and Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation: @Merck Foundation: Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube. @Rasha Kelej: Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube. Link to the Facebook live stream of Inaugural Session of Merck Foundation First Ladies High Level Panel: Merck Foundation is transforming the Patient care landscape and making history together with their partners in Africa, Asia, and beyond, through: Merck Foundation is also creating a culture shift and breaking the silence about a wide range of social and health issues in Africa and underserved communities through: Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with Business Wire. Business Upturn takes no editorial responsibility for the same. Ahmedabad Plane Crash Business Wire India, established in 2002, India's premier media distribution company ensures guaranteed media coverage through its network of 30+ cities and top news agencies.
The Independent
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
A hundred days of ‘missing' Melania Trump
At the end of January, after Trump was ensconced in the White House for the second time, NPR reported that his wife, Melania, would be returning to Washington 'with significant experience under her belt'. Anita McBride, director of the First Ladies Initiative at American University, told the station that any past perceptions that Melania didn't want to do that job were 'now erased', and they played a soundbite of the first lady telling a Fox News host that while 'some people … see me as just the wife of the president … I'm standing on my own two feet, independent. I have my own thoughts.' 'One thing's definite,' the NPR host concluded, 'the public is going to be seeing more of Melania Trump.' But, then, we didn't. Apart from a public sighting of the first lady at Pope Francis 's funeral on the eve of her 55th birthday this weekend, in the first 100 days of Trump's presidency, Melania Trump has in fact been conspicuous by her absence. After the pope's funeral, where the Catholic first lady wore Dolce and Gabbana for the service, complete with a veil, lace gloves and a diamond cross necklace, the couple went their separate ways as soon as they landed in America. The first lady got into her SUV at Newark airport, while the president boarded Marine One to head to his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf course, with Trump giving his wife a hastily remembered peck on the cheek before he boarded the helicopter. As son Barron Trump lives in New York City, there was speculation she may have been heading there to spend her birthday evening with him instead of with her husband. While the first couple held hands throughout the funeral service, this open display of affection was the closest they had been in public for months. At the last two GOP conventions, she gave prime time speeches in support of his nomination. Not in 2024. When her coffee-table memoir, Melania, was published in October, she gave an interview to Fox News to promote it. But since entering the White House, she's stayed out of the public eye. A social source told People magazine that Melania has stayed at both Mar-a-Lago and the White House, but that she hasn't spent meaningful time at the White House in an official capacity. '[Donald and Melania] both live at Mar-a-Lago and have quarters in the White House,' the source told the magazine. 'But she leads her own life and joins him when appropriate in either place.' Nina Burleigh, who wrote about Melania in her 2018 book The Trump Women: Part of the Deal and pens a weekly newsletter on Maga world called American Freakshow, says her absence is by design. It is, she says, a calculated choice that has been made by both Melania and her husband for her to mostly avoid public appearances. Not only is Melania disinterested in a more prominent role as first lady, but she's also served her purpose in Trump World, too, Burleigh believes. 'I have to make clear that this is totally my opinion, but as a long-time observer of the politics of the Maga world and of Trump, of the way they interacted in the first administration, and also from doing my research into her personality and history for the book on the Trump women, I would say that she's an introvert by nature,' Burleigh says. 'She barely spoke English when they started the first campaign because she spent a lot of time in this little circle with her family – with her mum and dad, and her son, [Barron] of course, who has spoken Slovenian since childhood. She lived in this Slovenian bubble, and then they put her out in front of the public. When she had to talk, it was very difficult for her. She got past that, but she's just not somebody who's particularly innately suited to campaigning or to public life. She's happy to not do it.' Melania's mother, whom she was very close to, died in January 2024, and Burleigh says Trump himself has little need for Melania to play the doting wife in public anymore. 'The second Trump regime has sort of abandoned all pretence when it comes to norms, and especially the norms with respect to women,' she said. 'This is a different kind of administration, he doesn't need to pretend that he's a good husband and a father. It's all done. 'The women who are around him want to project toughness. Like Kristi Noem, (the Homeland Security secretary), cosplaying wearing a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) costume and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt who's just shamelessly spewing bull****. He doesn't need Melania to be there anymore. Putting her out there served its purpose in the first round.' Compare this to the high-profile appearances of Usha Vance, wife of US vice president JD Vance. This month, they were posing with their three children, daughter Mirabel and sons Ewan and Vivek, alongside India's president Narendra Modi. This was after a trip to Italy a week before, when Vance met with prime minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Francis a day before his death. A trip by Vance and his wife to Greenland was also in the headlines when Usha was forced to scale back to a visit to just one US space base, and not to the capital Nuuk and cultural events like a popular annual dog sled race that she had originally wanted to do. As all these appearances are meticulously planned and highly choreographed, Burleigh now wonders whether we'll see more of Melania when the $40m Amazon documentary about her life is released later this year. Just weeks after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos had dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago shortly after his election, his streaming service was said to have paid an 8-figure sum for a documentary and a limited series about Melania. Both Disney+ and Paramount were apparently outbid. The documentary is being directed by Brett Ratner, a name once synonymous with blockbuster success, but which is now linked to the sexual misconduct allegations that derailed his Hollywood career in 2017. Filming has apparently been underway since January, and Amazon said the final cut will offer viewers an 'unprecedented behind-the-scenes look' at Melania, who the team insists has a 'truly unique story'. While Burleigh acknowledges that Maga devotees talk about how 'women should maybe just sit at home making more babies and let their husbands vote', she also says she wouldn't be surprised if we see more of Melania in the next 100 days. As the film buzz begins, she suspects 'she'll maybe come out of the woodwork then'. And if the last 100 days are anything to go by, as the Trump world spins faster and faster, the rest of us can expect quite a show.
