Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced the winners of the Merck Diabetes Award “Every Day is a Diabetes Day” to mark the World Diabetes Day- WDD themed ‘Eyes on Diabetes’.

 Merck Diabetes Award as part of the Merck Capacity Advancement Program was launched in April 2016 in partnership with African and Asian universities with the aim of building a platform of diabetes experts across the globe.

 “Merck plays an important role in building Diabetes Care capacity in partnership with African and Asian Universities. Today marks an important day in the fight against Diabetes as we celebrate World Diabetes Day. In this context, we have announced ten Diabetes Award Winners from Africa and Asia” says Belen Garijo, Member of Merck's Executive Board and CEO Merck Healthcare. “This initiative fully illustrates our commitment to improving access to affordable Healthcare in Africa and other developing countries” Garijo added.

 The scientific committee received over 500 concept submission applications from universities in Africa and Asia and 10 winners were selected for the award. The winner from each university has been granted a one year postgraduate diabetes diploma in South Wales University, United Kingdom.

 “Merck Diabetes Award marks another step in our long term commitment to support diabetes care strategies in developing countries through working with local governments, academia and relevant stakeholders in building healthcare capacity with a focus on Diabetes, hypertension and other non-communicable diseases in various countries in Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Africa and Latin America” said Rasha Kelej, Chief Social Officer, Merck Healthcare when making the announcement of the winners.

 Merck invited all medical students to apply for the “Merck Diabetes Award” 2016 with the theme “Every Day is a Diabetes Day”. Students across African and Asian medical universities were asked to submit a concept paper on how to improve diabetes early detection and prevention in their countries and how to encourage their society, scientific community, local authorities, media and relevant stakeholders to think and act on diabetes every day.

 “Access to diabetic care in Africa will slowly grow with the initiation of this award, because it will create ‘diabetes scholars’ with more insight and knowledge on the best care needed for patients and how to facilitate it,” said Dominic Oduro-Donkor, from Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Ghana and a Merck Diabetes Award winner.

 “The Merck Capacity Advancement Programme is a ground-breaking initiative to control this growing epidemic of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes, by motivating and sensitising undergraduate students and giving them a chance to gain an in-depth knowledge about every aspect of this disease,” emphasized one of the winners Antara Bagchi, a student at the Indira Gandhi Medical College, India.

 Ahmed Reja, the President of International Diabetes Federation, Africa and President of Ethiopia Diabetes Association emphasized: “We are very happy to partner with Merck to drive their strategy to build diabetes capacity and roll out the Merck Diabetes Award across the continent. The awards encourage the students to be more innovative and take a leadership position to fight diabetes in their own country.”

 In addition, as part of its recognition of the World Diabetes Day, the Merck Capacity Advancement Program also launched its European Accredited Clinical Diabetes and Hypertension management 2016 tour across Africa and Asia. The program supports focused training to build diabetes healthcare capacity for medical undergraduates, postgraduates and healthcare providers in partnership with universities across the two continents.

 More than 5000 medical undergraduates have benefited from the fourth edition of the Merck Capacity Advancement Program which covered eight African countries and is in partnership with Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia; University of Nairobi, Kenya; Makerere University, Uganda; Muhimbili University, Tanzania; University of Ghana; University of Namibia; Eduardo Mondelane University in Mozambique and Agostinho Neto University, Angola. In Asia the tours are being conducted with Maharashtra University, India and University of Indonesia.

 In addition to building capacity among healthcare professionals to provide quality diabetes care, Merck runs a social media campaign providing diabetes patient education through videos and information materials in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and many local languages focusing on diabetes early symptoms and complications to raise awareness on diabetes and the importance of early detection and prevention among communities.

 Meet the winners of Merck Diabetes Award 2016 from African and Asian universities:

 Elisha Kipkemoi Ngetich 
College of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi, Kenya
“I am ecstatic at winning the Merck Diabetes Award 2016. I thank Merck for providing this wonderful platform where students can further their studies in non-communicable diseases. With the current surge in the prevalence of diabetes in Kenya and other developing countries, the timing of this award could not have been better. Over the years, I have developed an interest in diabetes because I have seen patients in the different stages of this disease. I have also seen the impact that early recognition and management of this disease can have and I am privileged to broaden my understanding of the disease through this postgraduate diploma course. This will also build me academically and professionally as well. This is the kind of initiative that Kenya and Africa at large needs, an initiative to empower young doctors and other healthcare professionals. This information then trickles down to the patients and ultimately we end up with a healthy Kenya and Africa. I am convinced that the knowledge I will gather during this experience will significantly impact on my practice in the near future and hence a better outcome for our diabetic patients.”

 Ralph Obure 
College of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi, Kenya
“The Kenyan healthcare system faces new challenges in diabetes and other non-communicable diseases and so efforts by Merck to increase capacity are timely and highly welcome. I am honoured to receive the Merck Diabetes Award that will advance my medical career and enable me to provide the much needed expertise in diabetes management in Kenya.”

 Antara Bagchi
Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur, India
“Merck is providing an opportunity for the care and control of diabetes in the community especially in Asia and Africa, where non-communicable diseases are becoming increasingly prevalent. The Merck Capacity Advancement Programme is a ground-breaking initiative to control this rampant and growing epidemic of NCDs like diabetes, by motivating and sensitising undergraduate students like us, and giving them a chance to gain an in-depth, holistic knowledge about every aspect of this disease. I am sure that this initiative will have a profound impact on the health scenario, and the incidence and morbidity of NCDs will be lowered significantly.”

Samuel Mucheru
Aga Khan University, Kenya
“This award is important to me because it marks the start of a future career in diabetes management which I am very passionate about. It will help build diabetes expertise in my country, which is badly needed due to the exponential increase in diabetes cases within the population. Moreover, it will help achieve the wider goal of building capacity in diabetes management especially in the low and middle income countries whose non-communicable disease burden is on an upward trend without a commensurate increase in the number of experts to deal with this pandemic.”

 Tinka George
Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Uganda
“I am grateful and happy that Merck has provided us with this great opportunity to advance our knowledge in diabetes. This opportunity of increasing the number of diabetes specialists will step up efforts in the fight against this 'silent killer', especially here in Africa where the burden of the disease is skyrocketing day and night. This will help save many lives.”

 Gloria Ani-asamoah
Accra, Ghana
“It is a privilege to acquire current knowledge in the management of diabetes. It is my hope that at the end of this course l will be a better advocate in diabetes prevention and offer comprehensive diabetes care. The time is now to curb the menace of disease.”

 Nujood Al Shirawi
Intern, Dubai Health Authority, United Arab Emirates
“Diabetes is a lifelong illness which affects the lives of more than 14% adults in UAE. With such a high percentage, everybody in the UAE knows individuals battling diabetes. I am grateful to Merck and Dubai Medical College for enabling the young doctors in the region to participate in such a program where a platform has been created for exchange of knowledge between national and international experts. I am looking forward to the diabetes diploma and believe it will add to my existing knowledge and help develop my understanding of this illness which affects nearly every organ in the body. It was a wonderful experience to be part of this award and I would encourage all my colleagues to participate in any future events.”

 Najmah Kuddah
General Practitioner, University of Indonesia, Indonesia
“Indonesia is the fifth largest population with diabetes, yet 73.7% is undiagnosed because of lack of awareness. One of them could be someone we love. This award means everything to me, so I can do something for my family, people and my country”.

 Dominic Oduro-Donkor
Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Ghana
“In Ghana many people do not have access to healthcare services in order to identify, diagnose and treat diabetes and its complications. It is essential to achieve adequate diabetes care as the number of people living with the condition continues to escalate. There is also a need to commit resources to diabetes education across Ghana and the African continent at large. Until this happens large numbers of people will end up experiencing potentially preventable diabetes-related complications such as blindness, kidney failure and amputation.
The reason why this award is important to me is because Merck has given me an opportunity to take my trade outside the consulting room and making it possible for me to help more people, to make my voice louder and to help those who can’t help themselves.
Access to diabetic care in Africa will slowly grow with the initiation of this award, because it will create ‘diabetes scholars’ who will have more insight and knowledge on the best care needed for patients and how to facilitate it. Together, our voices will resonate the need for change and improved management strategies, which will change the face of diabetes care in Africa. The mobilization of professionals across the continent of Africa is the first step in forming a platform where ideas can be put across and shared to make diabetic care easily accessible.”

Ken Munene Nkonge
University of Nairobi, Kenya
“Similar to other countries in Africa, majority of people living with diabetes in Kenya are diagnosed late, when the options available for preventing complications of the disease are few and suboptimal. I strongly believe that community-based preventative measures alongside early diagnosis and management of prediabetes and related comorbidities such as obesity and hypertension are essential to reducing the burden of type 2 diabetes on Kenya’s health care system. The Merck Diabetes Award is important to me because it will empower me with the knowledge and skills needed to make this belief a reality across Kenya. As the recipient of this award, I look forward to this amazing opportunity.”