Merck Foundation and São Tomé First Lady align on healthcare capacity building and infertility stigma campaigns
In a release distributed via APO Group and published on Africa Newsroom, Merck Foundation said its CEO and the First Lady of São Tomé & Príncipe discussed joint programmes to strengthen healthcare capacity and tackle infertility stigma.
The conversation was framed around training, advocacy, and media engagement—using high-level convenings to keep reproductive health, maternal health, and systems strengthening on the policy radar.
The real-world impact depends on implementation: scholarships delivered, training cohorts completed, and hospitals or institutions integrating the newly built capacity.
Merck Foundation’s official announcement said the goal is to “strengthen healthcare” and expand training impact, while a republished report highlighted efforts to “break infertility stigma” through advocacy and community engagement.
Echotitbits take:
Stigma is often more damaging than the condition itself—because it delays care and drives misinformation. Watch for multilingual public campaigns, local clinician training, and integration into national reproductive health programming.
Source: Zawya — January 2, 2026 — https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/africa-press-releases/merck-foundation-chief-executive-officer-ceo-and-sao-tome-principe-first-lady-discussed-their-joint-programs-xc03fgus
Zawya 2026-01-02
Photo Credit: Zawya
