User:Lizbethkariuki/Rasha Kelej

"Rasha Kelej" (born 14 February 1972) is the Chief Social Officer of Merck Healthcare. She is also a member of Human Resources, Science, and Technology Cluster of the African Union's Economic, Social and Cultural Council. Rasha has more than 20 years experience in the international pharmaceutical business. Rasha has elaborated a structured and coherent Corporate Social Responsibility- CSR strategy and agenda that is adding significant value to society and scientific communities in Africa and Developing countries such as India and Indonesia. She developed Global Merck Capacity Advancement Program- CAP as part of CSR Agenda that started in Sub-Saharan Africa with the aim to improve access to innovative and equitable healthcare solutions and build healthcare capacity in Research and Development, supply chain integrity, pharmacovigilance, patient safety practices, community awareness and medical education for undergraduates and physicians in rural areas.

Biography
Rasha Kelej is from Egpyt and based in Dubai. She holds a degree in Pharmacy from Alexandria University and a Masters in Business Administration from Robert Gordon University for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) integration with business strategy. She joined Merck Serono in 1996.

Career
Rasha’s previous role was Program Director in the Merck Serono Strategy Realization Office (SRO) from May 2013 to May 2014. As part of the Global SRO team, Rasha helped to drive business growth across the Emerging Market Regions. She has served as Commercial Director for Biosimilars for Intercontinental region where she developed the Biosimilars defensive strategy.

Some of Rasha’s other initiatives include:
 * Merck Cancer Access Program - part of the CAP – runs in partnership with top global oncology experts, African universities and Ministries of Health to assist in cancer prevention and control. The program aims to increase the limited number of medical oncologists hence improve access to cancer care in Africa. The Merck Cancer Access Program was an outcome of Merck Cancer Control Program (MCCP) that been kicked off in 2015, in partnership with top Global oncology experts, African Universities and Ministries of Health to assist in developing and implementing comprehensive cancer prevention and control programs and to educate the students and health care providers about cancer early detection and prevention. The program will be augmented by community awareness campaigns to contribute to reducing cancer incidence and improve its survival rates. The program will be complemented by a new initiative to support the Cancer Patients in Africa and developing countries.
 * Merck More Than a Mother Campaign: The campaign provides medical education and awareness for medical students and general practitioners and also support governments to define policies to improve access to safe and effective fertility care. It addresses 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. Merck More Than a Mother Initiative addresses together with local stakeholders, the key challenges that are associated with resource-constrained settings such as prevention of infertility, education & self-development, assisted reproductive technology (ART) & in vitro fertilization (IVF) regulation, geographic barriers, reproductive rights and over-population and limited resources arguments. "Infertile women in Africa have been neglected, mistreated and discriminated because they cannot bear children. This is not right and has to change," Mentions Rasha Kelej.
 * UNESCO-Merck Africa Research Summit: aims to bring together researchers from across Africa to discuss the generation, sharing and dissemination of research data and to prepare for the road ahead in Africa’s development as an international hub for research excellence and scientific innovation.
 * Merck Supply Chain Forum and Merck E- Health Initiative: The forum was launched in April 2015 in partnership with University of Nairobi, Kenya medical supplies authority (KEMSA) and Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya (PSK). It aims to contribute to improving supply chain efficiency in Kenya by providing training and technical support to help developing and applying Good Distribution Practice (GDP) and Good Storage Practice (GSP) international guidelines in the country.
 * Merck Universities Program that includes the Merck Diabetes and hypertension Awards: Merck Universities Program as part of the CAP, in 2015, more than 10,000 medical students in partnership with African universities such as University of Nairobi, Makerere University, Namibia University and University of Ghana, in addition to Asian universities such as Maharashtra University, and University of Indonesia will benefit from European-accredited clinical chronic diseases management training, which is seeking to equip them with skills to better manage and prevent these diseases. Merck is planning to target more than 25,000 students by the end of 2018 expanding to more African, Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern countries with special focus on non–communicable diseases such as Diabetes, Hypertension, Cancer and Fertility management.
 * Merck Capacity Advancement Program (CAP): Merck CAP is a 5-year program aiming to expand the professional capacity in developing countries in the areas of research and development, advocacy building, supply-chain integrity and efficiency, pharmacovigilance, medical education, and community awareness.