Testimonials of Merck Foundation Alumni

“South Africa has no more than a mere handful of oncologists, with most of them based in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban. There are no dedicated oncology centers even in those big cities. There is currently one public stem cell center in Cape Town that caters to three patients at a time. Sad but true, a diagnosis of any form of cancer including early stage - Hodgkins lymphoma in South Africa carries a swift, cruel death sentence, particularly so if you happen to reside in a rural area, as about 80% of South Africa’s population does. Therefore, Merck Foundation Medical Oncology Fellowship Program at the University of Nairobi has helped me to transform the lives of those black, poor, rural young people I previously had to watch dying avoidable deaths from even easily treatable Hodgkins lymphoma in my country.”