Africa's Cancer Care Capacity Building Through Specialized Human Capacity

Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation, published an article titled 'We Did Not Donate Cancer Care. We Built the People Who Could Deliver It.'

The article reflects on her leadership journey in strengthening cancer care capacity across Africa.

According to Dr. Kelej, building specialized human capacity is one of the most sustainable ways to transform healthcare systems.

'You cannot build a sustainable healthcare system without building its people first,' she emphasized.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer reported approximately 1.19 million new cancer cases and 764,000 cancer deaths in Africa in 2022.

Merck Foundation has provided more than 280 one-year, two-year, and three-year scholarships in multidisciplinary cancer care to healthcare providers from 35 African countries.