“Merck More Than a Mother” Campaign in Uganda

Kampala, Uganda, February 5, 2016 – Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced the launch of its second “Merck More than a Mother” campaign in Africa for the first time in Uganda as part of the Merck Capacity Advancement Program.

The campaign was first implemented in Kenya in 2015 and will be implemented this year in Uganda, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Africa Fertility Society (AFS) and the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association, and progressively rolled-out in more African countries.´

“In some cultures, childless women still suffer discrimination, stigma and ostracism. As such, a central difficulty associated with infertility is that it can transform from an acute, private distress into a harsh public stigma with complex and devastating consequences. An inability to have a child or to become pregnant can result in being greatly isolated, disinherited or assaulted. This may result in divorce or physical and psychological violence. Therefore this campaign is very important for Africa since it aims to define interventions to reduce the stigma and social suffering of infertile women across the continent,” said Rasha Kelej, Chief Social Officer, Merck Healthcare.

The Ugandan Minister of State of Health, Hon. Sarah Opendi emphasized during her speech at the campaign: “We are happy to partner with reputable and innovative companies such as Merck. We believe that improving access to regulated and equitable fertility care is important, but it is even more important to intervene to decrease stigmatization and social suffering arising from this condition”.

“According to the World Health Organization (WHO), lower levels of development are thought to be associated with higher levels of non-genetic and preventable causes of infertility such as poor nutrition, untreated sexually transmitted infections (STIs), unsafe abortion, consequence of infections caused by the practice of female genital mutilation, exposure to smoking and to leaded petrol and other environmental pollutants. Hence prevention awareness is very important”, Opendi added.

The campaign will provide training for embryologists and education for healthcare providers and will also support governments to define policies to improve access to safe and effective fertility care, address the need for interventions to reduce stigmatization and social suffering of infertile women and raise awareness about male infertility and the necessity for a team approach to family building among couples.

Themed “Together we can create a culture shift”, the “Merck More than a Mother” social media campaign will challenge the social and cultural perception of infertile women in Africa. Moreover it will raise awareness about male infertility, prevention of infertility and infertility management at large.

Take a moment and watch these two videos of infertile women sharing their experience of stigma and social suffering in Uganda.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0abDbTGZqZA

To read more about Merck More than a mother concept and objectives
Please click in the below link:
http://www.merck-africa.com/en/media/related_articles/merck_more_than_a_mother.html

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