Merck Announces $3M Commitment to Address Critical Maternal Health Needs During COVID-19 Pandemic
April 09 2020 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
New Merck for Mothers Commitment Adds to
Merck’s Overall Support to Global, National and Local COVID-19
Relief Efforts
Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and
Canada, announced today a commitment to strengthen health systems
affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through Merck for Mothers, the
company’s global initiative to help end preventable maternal
deaths, the company will provide $3 million to help health systems
better meet the needs of pregnant women before, during and
following delivery while tackling COVID-19.
“Our goal in establishing Merck for Mothers in 2011 was to
advance the quality of maternal health care and improve access to
care during one of the most critical moments in a woman’s life,”
said Kenneth C. Frazier, chairman and chief executive officer,
Merck. “That call to action for us is even stronger in the midst of
the pandemic. That is why we are increasing our efforts to
strengthen the capacity of our health care systems to support these
women.”
“Our health systems and heroic health care providers are fully
focused on COVID-19, but childbirth will not wait for the pandemic
to ease,” said Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, chief patient officer at
Merck. “We are eager to partner with our many collaborators working
to help end maternal mortality to provide enhanced care to pregnant
women and new mothers at this crucial time for them, and this
crucial time for us as a society.”
Merck for Mothers will direct investments to efforts in the U.S.
and globally in countries impacted by COVID-19 to help address
maternal health challenges that are arising as a result of the
pandemic. Proposals will be considered on an invitation-only
basis.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Merck is focused on
protecting the safety of its employees and their families, ensuring
that our supply of medicines and vaccines reach our patients,
contributing our scientific expertise to the development of
antiviral approaches, and supporting our healthcare providers and
our communities. Merck has also launched a program to enable our
medically trained employees to volunteer their time to aid their
communities while maintaining their base pay.
The $3 million in program funding from Merck for Mothers adds to
Merck’s support for global, national and local relief efforts. With
this commitment from Merck for Mothers, Merck has contributed or
committed more than $11 million to COVID-19 relief efforts thus
far. This support has included donations of medicines, protective
personal equipment (PPE) donations for health care providers and
funding to relief organizations, including the United Nations
Foundation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund in support of the
World Health Organization and to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) Foundation Emergency Response Fund.
To learn more about how our company is responding to the
COVID-19 pandemic, please visit www.merck.com.
About Merck For more than 125 years, Merck, known as MSD
outside of the United States and Canada, has been inventing for
life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the
world’s most challenging diseases in pursuit of our mission to save
and improve lives. We demonstrate our commitment to patients and
population health by increasing access to health care through
far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. Today, Merck
continues to be at the forefront of research to prevent and treat
diseases that threaten people and animals – including cancer,
infectious diseases such as HIV and Ebola, and emerging animal
diseases – as we aspire to be the premier research-intensive
biopharmaceutical company in the world. For more information, visit
www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram,
YouTube and LinkedIn.
About Merck for Mothers Merck for Mothers is our
company’s $500 million initiative to create a world where no woman
has to die giving life. Applying Merck’s business and scientific
resources, we collaborate with partners to improve the health and
well-being of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum
period. For more information, visit www.merckformothers.com.
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 the recent global outbreak of novel coronavirus
disease (COVID-19); 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 2019
Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company’s other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC’s
Internet site (www.sec.gov).
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