First Lady of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. Mrs Rebecca Naa Okaikor Akufo-Addo has admonished society against mocking and stigmatizing perceived infertile couples, rather, empathize with them and influence national policies on enhancing fertility care.
Mrs Akufo-Addo expressed the concern when she formally welcomed First Ladies from Africa and Asia, to the 6th edition of the Merck Africa Asia Luminary 2019 at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra today.
The conference which also marks the second (2nd) anniversary of Merck Foundation is being co-chaired by Mrs Akufo-Addo and CEO of Merck Foundation, Dr. Rasha Kalej.
In a brief speech, Mrs Akufo-Addo said this year’s conference will deliberate extensively on infertility to identify avenues of changing mind-sets towards perceived infertile couples and resourcing further research to build fertility care capacity in Africa and developing countries.
She said she was optimistic that after five years of providing the platform for brilliant, engaging scientific discussions that have raised awareness and collaboration around Diabetes, Fertility, Oncology and other health issues, the 6th edition of the Merck Luminary would end with the formulation and planned implementation of programmes that will address the challenges of infertility.
The First Lady of Ghana expressed immense gratitude to her fellow participating First Ladies from Liberia, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Chad and Nigeria for being part of the great movement against infertility in Africa, stating that “this is a movement of empathy, respect, empowerment and recognition.of which your collective involvement is imperative to its success”.
The 6th edition of the Merck Africa Asia Luminary 2019, was officially opened by H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana
