Dr Ahmed Morsi, Head of Surgery Department, National Cancer Institute, Cairo, Egypt, said they were devastated by the expose’ of the situation and decided to treat the matter as urgent.

He announced the availability of the first free five scholarships for oncology training at its over 50 year-old facility.

He said experts from the national institute are ready to partner with Merck Foundation to commence an outreach programme into Africa in need of cancer care.

Mrs Fatima Maada Bio, First Lady of Sierra Leone, made a passionate appeal for Merck Foundation and global development partners to assist in the construction of a specialized cancer care unit for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease and support the training of experts to save many lives that are being lost to cancer during her address to the conference on Tuesday as part of the two-day fifth edition of the “Merck Africa Asia Luminary” conference, in Dakar, Senegal.

The event coincided with the first anniversary of Merck Foundation and 350 years of the parent organization, which saw more than 500 healthcare providers and policy-makers attending.

She made the appeal made during the fifth edition of the Merck Africa Asia Luminary conference in Dakar, Senegal, explaining that it costs about 15,000 dollars to receive medical attention from Ghana for lack in infrastructure and personnel, more so, when majority of the people lived under a dollar per day.

Professor K. S. Sharma, Director (Academics) Tata Memorial Centre urges African countries in need of these services to take advantage of the offer.

Dr Rasha Kelej, Chief Executive Officer of Merck Foundation and President of Merck More Than A Mother campaign, said “together we shall work on strong strategies to build a solid legion of cancer experts and provide that platform of healthcare professionals to fight the debilitating disease of cancer.

She said the Foundation is committed to realizing its goal to the world for a better future from these collaborative efforts, which had witnessed the training of more than 84 embryologist and fertility experts from Merck Fertility and Embryology Training Fellowship and programmes.

She said Merck Foundation was already collaborating with the Cairo University and Tata Memorial Centre on Oncology in addition to those of Universities of Nairobi, Kenya and Malaya in Malaysia.

Dr Kelej said the Foundation is ready for the proposals adding “It is just a matter of time and dialogue to straighten the rough edges for a smooth take-off.

Professor Dr Frank Strangenberg, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Merck Foundation, reaffirmed the Foundation’s eagerness to scaling-up its scholarship scheme towards the training of the requisite professionals and help ameliorate the many health difficulties that confound Africa and Asia, insisting that “We will take this gesture to the next level.”

He pledged the Foundation’s support to collaborating with strategic partners to open new affiliations with academia, Ministries of Health, policy-makers to improve disease management, access and bring quality healthcare closer to the people.

By Maxwell Awumah, GNA Correspondent, Dakar, Senegal