Throughout our history, Merck has devoted considerable effort to bringing our medicines and vaccines, expertise and experience to people around the world.

In developed countries, a number of challenges impede access to medicines, vaccines and quality health care. In the United States, for example, access to health care is not universal and millions of uninsured people face great difficulty in obtaining the care they need. Outside the United States where socialized health care systems provide for the needs of the majority of citizens, challenges still remain, from waiting times for accessing specialists to lack of access to innovative products. The solution to access challenges in the developed world lies in a multifaceted approach where no one entity can solve the problem alone. Success depends on players from both the public and private sectors stepping up to their responsibilities and working together toward a common goal.

Merck believes that the pharmaceutical industry has an important role and responsibility to play as part of this solution. Merck's approach to improving access is based upon business and philanthropic strategies aimed at reaching as many people as possible as quickly as possible, while also supporting the sustainability of our business. We believe increased access can be achieved through a strategy that combines:

• Pricing our products responsibly, and, where necessary, donating our products to those who lack health care coverage;
• Advocating for expanded health care coverage that allows citizens greater access through health insurance systems;
• Promoting and participating in public/private partnerships to address chronic disease and other complex health challenges.

The content on this page was last modified on September 15, 2009.

Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA, and Schering-Plough Corporation, Kenilworth, NJ, USA, are now one company. We have combined our global operations under the name Merck & Co., Inc. We are working to update our corporate responsibility Web site to reflect our new, combined, global organization.