Merck Foundation (www.Merck-Foundation.com) in partnership with African First Ladies and Ministries of Health and Medical Societies provided out of total 2080 Scholarships, 830 Scholarships of one-year Post-Graduate Diploma and two-year Master Degree in Preventative Cardiovascular Medicine, Cardiology, Diabetes, Endocrinology and Obesity and Weight Management to doctors from 52 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

2080 scholarships in total have been provided by Merck Foundation to doctors from 52 countries in 44critical and underserved medical specialties such as Oncology, Sexual and Reproductive Care, Acute Medicine, Respiratory Medicine, Embryology&Fertility specialty, Gastroenterology, Dermatology, Psychiatry, Emergency and Resuscitation Medicine, Critical Care, Paediatric Emergency Medicine, Neonatal Medicine, Advanced Surgical Practice, General Surgery, Clinical Microbiology and infectious diseases, Internal Medicine, Trauma&Orthopaedics and many more; Merck Foundation has released the First Animation films “Mark’s Pressure”, and “Sugar Free Jude”, which are adapted from their Children storybooks with the aim to raise awareness about early detection and prevention of Hypertension and Diabetes (which are corelated) and to Promote Healthy Lifestyle, amongst children and youth in Africa and beyond.

Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany marks ‘World Heart Day 2024’ in partnership with Africa’s First Ladies, Ministries of Health, Medical Societies, and Academia, through their Nationwide Diabetes&Hypertension Blue Points Program.

Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation emphasized, “We mark “World Heart Day 2024” through our daily efforts in building healthcare capacity and improving access to quality and equitable Cardiovascular Preventative care, Cardiology, Hypertension and Diabetes, which are all co-related, in Africa, Asia&Latin America.

Together with our Ambassadors, The First Ladies of Africa, and partners like Ministries of Health, Medical Societies and Academia, we have till today provided more than 830 scholarships to doctors from 52 countries of One-year PG Diploma and Two-year Master degree in Preventative Cardiovascular, Cardiology, Diabetes, Endocrinology and Obesity&Weight Management, and also a special 3-month Diabetes Mastercourse in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. This is significantly contributing to improving access to cardiovascular and diabetes care which are correlated. These scholarships have been awarded to young doctors to create a strong network of experts across the countries, extending beyond just the capitals and major cities.

I take great pride in this remarkable achievement; this is how we celebrate World Heart Day at Merck Foundation every day.”

Merck Foundation has in total provided more than 2080 scholarships to doctors from 52 countries in 44 critical and underserved medical specialties.

“Over the past 12 years, we are committed to improving the lives of people. In this spirit, we will continue our efforts until we significantly transform patient care landscape in underserved and vulnerable populations,” Dr. Rasha Kelej added.

Dr. Hazel Kariuki, Merck Foundation Alumnus from Kenya shares, “I would like to extend my gratitude to Merck Foundation for giving me the opportunity to pursue and complete my MSc in Preventative Cardiovascular Medicine. I now feel confident in assessing my patients’ cardiovascular risk profiles and implementing evidence-based interventions to reduce those risks. Additionally, I am better equipped to educate and communicate with my patients about their treatment plans and the lifestyle changes that will benefit them the most”.

According to the World Heart Federation, Africa, with over 1 billion people, is a significant contributor to the global burden of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, Merck Foundation has launched various initiatives aimed at raising awareness and promoting prevention.

In partnership with African First Ladies, Merck Foundation has released children’s storybooks and adapted animation Films “Mark’s Pressure” and “Sugar Free Jude”.

“I am very happy to bring to you ‘Mark’s Pressure’ and ‘Sugar Free Jude’ the first Animation Films in Africa to raise awareness about Hypertension, Diabetes and to Promote Healthy Lifestyle, amongst children and youth in Africa and beyond. These animation films are adaptation of our children’s storybooks. Through our new animation films, we want to encourage our communities to stop sugar, limit salt intake, exercise regularly, eat healthy and never smoke, this is the only way to eradicate diabetes and hypertension, which are predominant risk factors for the development of several serious complications and heart diseases.

These animation films Merck Foundation’s gifts to our communities and partners to mark the “World Heart Day”. I want to remind everyone that good health is our greatest treasure!” added Dr. Kelej.

Watch the “Mark’s Pressure” Animation movie here: https://apo-opa.co/4ennvNy

Watch the “Sugar Free Jude” Animation film here: https://apo-opa.co/4etoPyA

Merck Foundation’s pan African TV program “Our Africa”, that is conceptualized, produced, directed, and co-hosted by Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation and features African Fashion Designers, Singers, and prominent experts from various domains with the aim to raise awareness about social and health issues, has episodes dedicated to raise awareness about Diabetes and Promoting Healthy Lifestyle.

Watch the Episode on Promoting Healthy Lifestyle here: https://apo-opa.co/4etyNjh

Watch the Episode on Diabetes Awareness here: https://apo-opa.co/4dlH1so

The TV program is currently broadcasted on KTV in Kenya, every Saturday at 5:00 pm and repeated every Thursday at 6:30 am.

“Our Africa” is also available on social media handles of Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej (Facebook (https://apo-opa.co/4drporf), Instagram (https://apo-opa.co/4dqK82c), Twitter (https://apo-opa.co/4eK9nxG) and YouTube (https://apo-opa.co/3ZDXHrY) and Merck Foundation (Facebook (https://apo-opa.co/4epbK9c), Instagram (https://apo-opa.co/4du7unN), Twitter (https://apo-opa.co/4ezBgbE) and YouTube (https://apo-opa.co/3BA6elx).

Moreover, Merck Foundation together with African First Ladies, annually launches Awards for Media, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, Musicians, Singers, and emerging talents from these fields to Promote a healthy lifestyle and raise awareness about prevention and early detection of Diabetes and Hypertension.

Details of the awards:

1. Merck Foundation Media Recognition Awards 2024 “Diabetes&Hypertension”: Media representatives are invited to showcase their work through strong and influential messages to promote a healthy lifestyle and raise awareness about the prevention and early detection of Diabetes and Hypertension.

Submission deadline: 30th October 2024.

2. Merck Foundation Film Awards 2024 “Diabetes&Hypertension”: All African Filmmakers, Students of Film Making Training Institutions, or Young Talents of Africa are invited to create and share a long or short FILMS, either drama, documentary, or docudrama to deliver strong and influential messages to promote a healthy lifestyle raise awareness about prevention and early detection of Diabetes and Hypertension.

Submission deadline: 30th October 2024.

3. Merck Foundation Fashion Awards 2024 “Diabetes&Hypertension”: All African Fashion Students and Designers are invited to create and share designs to deliver strong and influential messages to promote a healthy lifestyle and raise awareness about the prevention and early detection of Diabetes and Hypertension.

Submission deadline: 30th October 2024.

4. Merck Foundation Song Awards 2024 “Diabetes&Hypertension”: All African Singers and Musical Artists are invited to create and share a SONG with the aim to promote a healthy lifestyle and raise awareness about the prevention and early detection of Diabetes and Hypertension.

Submission deadline: 30th October 2024.

Entries for all the awards are to be submitted via email to:

submit@merck-foundation.com

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Merck Foundation.

Contact details:
Mehak Handa
Community Awareness Program Manager
+91 9310087613/ +91 9319606669
mehak.handa@external.merckgroup.com

Join the conversation on our social media platforms below and let your voice be heard:
Facebook: https://apo-opa.co/4epbK9c
X: https://apo-opa.co/4ezBgbE
YouTube: https://apo-opa.co/3BA6elx
Instagram: https://apo-opa.co/4du7unN
Threads: https://apo-opa.co/3XDLHUw
Flickr: https://apo-opa.co/3TQCpnb
Website: www.Merck-Foundation.com

About Merck Foundation:
The Merck Foundation, established in 2017, is the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany, aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people and advance their lives through science and technology. Our efforts are primarily focused on improving access to quality&equitable healthcare solutions in underserved communities, building healthcare and scientific research capacity and empowering people in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) with a special focus on women and youth. All Merck Foundation press releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck Foundation Website.  Please visit www.Merck-Foundation.com to read more. Follow the social media of Merck Foundation: Facebook (https://apo-opa.co/4epbK9c), X (https://apo-opa.co/4ezBgbE), Instagram (https://apo-opa.co/4du7unN), YouTube (https://apo-opa.co/3BA6elx) and Flickr (https://apo-opa.co/3TQCpnb).

Returning for its next edition from November 4-8 in Cape Town, the African Energy Week (AEW): Invest in African Energy conference convenes stakeholders from the global and African energy sector to discuss strategies for alleviating energy poverty. The event’s recent speaker lineup reflects the dedication by companies, government and industry associations to investing and driving projects forward.

AEW: Invest in African Energy is the platform of choice for project operators, financiers, technology providers and government, and has emerged as the official place to sign deals in African energy. Visit http://www.AECWeek.com for more information about this exciting event.

Africa is accelerating the pace of upstream projects with the aim of boosting production and intra-African petroleum distribution. Across both mature and emerging hydrocarbon markets, investments opportunities continue to emerge. At AEW: Invest in African Energy 2024, speakers from the upstream sector will delve into these opportunities. Speakers include:

Alba Oliveira, Head of East Africa Upstream&Exploration Commercial Negotiations, Eni SpA
Alberto Lancia, Projects Director, Azule Energy
Alister Forder, COO, Azule Energy
Ayanda Noah, Group Chairperson, CEF Group
Chris Sembritzky, SVP Exploration, ReconAfrica
Craig Knight, COO, Africa Oil Corp
Fernando Hermes, Administrador, Etu Energias
George Toriola, Chief Strategy Officer, First E&P
Gerd Nji, CEO, Kariya Energy
Hamady SY, Managing Director, TotalEnergies Renewables Distributed Generation: Middle East&Africa
Hamlet Morule, Executive: Communications&External Affairs, bp South Africa
Jim Schwartz, Chairman and Managing Director: Nigeria and mid-Africa Business Unit, Chevron
Jonathan Dery, CEO, Adarco Energy
Keith C. Hill, former President&CEO, Africa Oil Corp
Maura Nunes, Local Content Coordinator, National Oil, Gas&Biofuels Agency of Angola
Mfano Nkutha, COO, Strategic Fuel Fund
Neville Ephraim, Project Manager, iGAS
Oliver Quinn, Chief Commercial Officer, Africa Oil Corp
Peter Ntephe, President/CEO, ERHC Energy
Richard Migeon, Business&Strategy Director, TotalEnergies
Rogers Bealle, CEO, Africa Fortesa
Rui Rodrigues, Director, EP Angola, TotalEnergies
Scott Childres, Country Manager: Equatorial Guinea, Chevron

Facilitating engagement among industry stakeholders, energy associations in Africa play an instrumental part in fostering inclusive, collaborative projects. From promoting opportunities for African-based companies, coordinating dialogue and deals with global counterparts and showcasing investment opportunities and addressing market challenges, associations in the natural and mineral resource sectors will be integral for supporting development in Africa. During AEW: Invest in African Energy 2024, speakers from associations will share insight into collaborative opportunities in Africa. Speakers include:

Felix Omatsola Ogbe, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board
Florival Mucave, Executive Chairman, Mozambique Oil&Gas Chamber
Lemogang Pitsoe, CEO, African Exploration Mining and Finance Corporation

Amid the trend of rising investment in Africa, both market intelligence and media firms are poised to support projects by providing crucial insight into ongoing market dynamics. These organizations play an important part in informing stakeholders, offering both insight into Africa’s energy markets as well as trends and opportunities in the global industry. At AEW: Invest in African Energy 2024, representatives from various media and market intelligence firms will outline recent developments, supporting deal-signing during the event. Speakers include:

Bimbola Kolawole, VP and Head of Business Development – Africa, Rystad Energy
Boason Omofaye, CEO&Executive Editor, Frontier Africa Reports
David Parkinson, VP Energy Consulting, Wood Mackenzie
Jennifer Zabasajja, Correspondent&Anchor, Bloomberg News
Matthew Watson, Senior Partner&Commercial Director, Rystad Energy
Paul Buckhardt, Energy Reporter, Bloomberg
Per Magnus Nysveen, Senior Partner&Head of Analysis, Rystad Energy
Terry Gebhardt, SVP Exploration, Woodside Energy

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.

An average of 2 960 attacks. This is the number of cyberattacks that the average organisation in Africa is subjected to – every week! It’s a staggering number – and it’s growing rapidly every year. This year’s number was up 37% (https://apo-opa.co/3ZAiLzA) from the year before, according to Checkpoint Research. 

Not only is Africa suffering thousands of cyberattacks, it is also the region with the highest weekly average on earth. The global average is 1 636 attacks per week. 

Cyberattacks are now part and parcel of the business landscape – and Africa is a major target. Given the sheer scale of the problem, cybersecurity is a fundamental requirement for any business, NGO or government entity trying to operate on the continent.  

Cyber vulnerabilities 

What makes Africa particularly vulnerable is the continent’s lack of infrastructure and resources due to budget limitations; a lack of awareness of the truly critical nature of the problem; legislative and policy lethargy; and a continuing shortage of trained cybersecurity professionals. 

Another vulnerability is the continent’s youthful population. While an enormous asset, having a young population also comes with risks. Already, 70% of Africa’s population is under 30, according to the United Nations (https://apo-opa.co/3Y0XIFh), and that youth component is only going to grow. 

Young people often lack financial resources and become accustomed to compromising their cybersecurity in order to access connectivity – whether through sharing devices, connecting to wi-fi in public places, or using unencrypted connections. 

Another risk is that the youth-focused education (https://apo-opa.co/3ZAiLzA) sector has become the industry suffering the most cyberattacks. This is partly due to the rise in online education since the Covid-19 pandemic.  

Education and research institutions are also often prime targets for cyber criminals, due to the sensitive information they hold and the fact that remote education often involves multiple groups of online users. 

Content piracy 

Young people are also enthusiastic users of entertainment content. This may make them more willing to seek out pirated content, which comes with significant risks – malware, ransomware, fraud and identity theft, to name just a few. 

These risks have seen the rise of the Partners Against Piracy initiative, with entertainment group MultiChoice Africa and cybersecurity firm Irdeto – a pan-African coalition to fight content piracy. 

This anti-piracy initiative has made significant strides, with Irdeto and other key stakeholders having conducted around 155 raids across Africa in 2024; and 4 351 pirate-content networks having been closed down.  

Frikkie Jonker, the Broadcasting Cybersecurity Anti-Piracy Director at Irdeto (MultiChoice Group subsidiary company) commented that Africa’s Police and court systems are also making steady advances in combating content piracy. There have been updates to cybercrime legislation in Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania, and a total of 107 arrests have been made across Africa this year.   

Despite the risk of piracy in youth-culture channels, Africa’s youth dividend is a significant advantage as the world embraces connected, digital economies. The GSMA (https://apo-opa.co/3XJ3mKx) predicts that by 2030, Africa will have 438 million mobile internet users – a cohort of savvy, digital natives, ready to work and do business online.   

This rapid digital transformation increases the need for robust cybersecurity in African economies. The threat is real. In 2023, Checkpoint (https://apo-opa.co/3ZAiLzA) found only seven African countries ranked among the top 50 for cybersecurity readiness. 

Boosting resilience 

Increasing the continent’s resilience against cyber threats will require initiatives on several fronts… 

Awareness and education: It’s critical to build cybersecurity education into school curriculums corporate training programmes and public-awareness campaigns. 
Investment: Cybersecurity is a sophisticated, specialised area, best managed by experts with relevant, up-to-the-minute skills. Organisations must budget to enlist these experts to build robust cybersecurity frameworks. 
Legislation: Cybersecurity considerations must be integrated into policies to ensure that cyber-resilience is legislated, and cybercriminals are prosecuted and jailed. This requires international, cross-sectoral cooperation. 
Infrastructure protection: Cybersecurity requires information security infrastructure – a massive weakness in Africa. Reports (https://apo-opa.co/3Y3erI4) show that 90% of African businesses operate without comprehensive cybersecurity protocols. Inadequate or outdated infrastructure limits their ability to detect, prevent, and respond to cyberattacks effectively.  
Public-private partnerships: The private sector has cybersecurity expertise and agile industry knowledge. Governments have budgets and the policy strength to get things done. A co-ordinated, partnership approach is the ideal way to unlock these respective competencies for everyone’s benefit.

National functions like health, education, social services and justice are all dependent on digital platforms. Neglecting cybersecurity places the delivery of all these services at risk.  

On the upside, future careers will increasingly rely on digital skills and digital platforms. These platforms must be secured if Africa’s people are going to be able to build businesses, campaigns and other initiatives in the digital space.  

As a continent, we simply cannot afford to ignore the importance of building cyber-resilience to secure the future of Africa’s people.  

For more information visit: https://apo-opa.co/3BxsTyQ

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of MultiChoice Group.

Report Piracy: 
International Hotline – +27 11 289 2684 
piracy@multichoice.co.za 

The United Arab Emirates has strongly condemned the heinous attack that targeted the residence of the UAE Head of Mission in Khartoum by a Sudanese army aircraft, which resulted in extensive damage to the building. The UAE has called on the army to assume full responsibility for this cowardly act.

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) affirmed that it will submit a letter to the League of Arab States, the African Union and the United Nations against this attack by the Sudanese Armed Forces, as it represents a flagrant violation of the fundamental principle of the inviolability of diplomatic premises. The Ministry stressed the importance of protecting diplomatic buildings and embassy staff residences, in accordance with the treaties and customs that regulate diplomatic relations.

The Ministry expressed its strong condemnation of these criminal acts and its permanent rejection of all forms of violence and terrorism aimed at destabilizing security and stability, in contravention of international law.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs&International Cooperation.