Merck Congratulates Guatemala as Fourth Country in Latin America to Achieve WHO Verification of Elimination of River Blindness
September 29 2016 - 1:06PM
Business Wire
Merck (NYSE:MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and
Canada, commends the government of Guatemala on being the fourth
country in Latin America to receive World Health Organization (WHO)
verification of the elimination of river blindness
(onchocerciasis). This announcement comes one year after the
international coalition, formed by The Carter Center, the Pan
American Health Organization (PAHO), WHO and Merck’s MECTIZAN
Donation Program, urged for the final push to eliminate
onchocerciasis from the Americas.
The government of Guatemala worked in partnership with the
MECTIZAN Donation Program, PAHO, WHO and The Carter Center’s
Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas (OEPA), to
eliminate onchocerciasis – one of the leading causes of preventable
blindness worldwide – using MECTIZAN® (ivermectin), donated by
Merck. With this verification, four of the six countries in the
Americas historically at-risk for river blindness have verified
elimination of the disease.
“We celebrate this important achievement with the people of
Guatemala. River blindness is a debilitating disease that affects
individuals and their families, as well as the larger health care
system and the economy,” said Kenneth C. Frazier, chairman and
chief executive officer of Merck. “Until river blindness is
entirely eliminated around the world, we remain committed to
working with our partners in the fight against this preventable
disease.”
For more information, please read the following:
- PAHO/WHO Announcement
- The Carter Center Announcement
About the MECTIZAN Donation Program
In October 1987, Merck announced it would donate the medication
MECTIZAN to all who need it for as long as necessary until river
blindness is eliminated as a public health problem. The MECTIZAN
Donation Program reaches more than 100 million people annually for
river blindness. In Latin America, since 1989, more than 11 million
treatments of donated MECTIZAN have been delivered by community
health workers and non-governmental organizations. Learn more at
www.mectizan.org.
About Merck
For 125 years, Merck has been a global health care leader
working to help the world be well. Merck is known as MSD outside
the United States and Canada. Through our prescription medicines,
vaccines, biologic therapies, and animal health products, we work
with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver
innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to
increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies,
programs and partnerships. For more information, visit
www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and
LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co., Inc.,
Kenilworth, N.J., USA
This news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J.,
USA (the “company”) includes “forward-looking statements” within
the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are
based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company’s
management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties.
If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or
uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially
from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general
industry conditions and competition; general economic factors,
including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations;
the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care
legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends
toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new
products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent
in new product development, including obtaining regulatory
approval; the company’s ability to accurately predict future market
conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial
instability of international economies and sovereign risk;
dependence on the effectiveness of the company’s patents and other
protections for innovative products; and the exposure to
litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory
actions.
The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause
results to differ materially from those described in the
forward-looking statements can be found in the company’s 2015
Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company’s other filings with the
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Internet site (www.sec.gov).
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MerckLainie Keller, 908-236-5036
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