Merck’s partnerships are wide-ranging and diverse, and include:

Researching New Medicines and Vaccines to Address Unmet Needs and Supporting Science

• Fostering the next generation of scientific discovery is a key part of our overall commitment to science. For this reason, Merck promotes science education at the pre-college, undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral levels and provides long-term, sustained support for programs that expand capacity for training in biomedical and health sciences, engineering and technology.  These programs include the award-winning Merck Institute for Science Education, the United Negro College Fund/Merck Science Initiative and the AAAS/Merck Undergraduate Science Research Program.

Improving Access to Medicines, Vaccines and Health Care

• The Merck MECTIZAN^® Donation Program: For more than 20 years, Merck has worked with numerous partners to donate and deliver this treatment for river blindness and, since 1998, for the prevention of lymphatic filariasis. 
• Merck is a founding member of the Partnership for Disease Control Initiatives (PDCI), a coalition of pharmaceutical companies and nongovernmental organization partners engaged in specific disease control or elimination programs for neglected tropical diseases. The coalition seeks to identify opportunities to collaborate and, ultimately, to integrate treatment strategies and programs where feasible, while reducing undue burden on local governments and communities. PDCI works closely with the World Health Organization (WHO), U.S. Agency for International Development and other interested parties.
• Earth Institute's Millennium Villages Community Health Worker Training Program: In 2009, with support from the Merck Company Foundation, the Earth Institute at Columbia University launched a community health worker training program to strengthen community health services for over 400,000 people in ten African countries as part of the Millennium Villages project. The initiative aims to advance the development of a professional cadre of approximately 800 community health workers to fill a critical gap in primary health care provision for rural communities throughout Africa. The program will ensure that participating community health workers are skilled, well trained, properly remunerated, regularly supervised and fully integrated into their countries' health care system.
• The UN/Industry Accelerating Access Initiative (AAI): Merck is a founding member of the AAI, established as a cooperative endeavor of UNAIDS, the WHO, UNICEF, United Nations Population Fund and the World Bank, and nine research-based pharmaceutical companies. Participants are committed to working with governments, international organizations and other stakeholders to find ways to broaden access while ensuring rational, affordable, safe and effective use of drugs for HIV infections and AIDS-related illnesses.
• The African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships(ACHAP): ACHAP is a collaboration of the Republic of Botswana, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Merck/The Merck Company Foundation to help stem the tide of HIV and AIDS. It seeks to leverage private sector perspectives and experiences to resolve social issues in support of Botswana's response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic through a comprehensive approach to prevention, care, treatment and support.  
• China-Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) HIV/AIDS Partnership: This partnership with China's Ministry of Health, established in 2005, provides HIV and AIDS prevention, patient care, treatment and support. The project focuses on a range of interventions including: education, counseling, testing, harm reduction and health services, including treatment and care for people living with HIV and AIDS.
• Partnership with the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health: In 2006, Merck and the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health announced a new partnership at the Clinton Global Initiative through which all eligible infants born in Nicaragua in the three-year period from March 2007 to March 2010 will receive free doses of Merck's rotavirus vaccine. Through this partnership, the vaccine was made available in a developing country in the same year it was first licensed in a developed country; this is a historic precedent and is an example of the commitment of Merck to make our new vaccines available to children around the world. In addition to helping protect infants and young children from rotavirus, Merck will provide assistance in administrative, training and logistical aspects related to an expansion of Nicaragua's immunization calendar, in strengthening local rotavirus surveillance networks, and in assessing the public health benefit resulting from the early adoption and use of a rotavirus vaccine.
• Merck is an active partner in the GAVI Alliance, a collaboration between the private and public sectors that is committed to the mission of saving children's lives and protecting people's health through the widespread use of vaccines. For more information, please click here.
• Merck is a member of the Private Sector Delegation to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, in which we help marshal resources and encourage private sector engagement to address the burdens of these three disease in developing countries and emerging markets. The resulting improvements in public health are having a major and positive impact on the development progress of these countries. 
• We participate in the Global Business Coalition to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria, which is dedicated to combating the AIDS, TB and malaria epidemic through the business sector's unique skills and expertise. One of our earliest contributions was to share our innovative HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria Workplace policy and practice that ensure that our employees and their dependents have access to appropriate disease prevention programs and access to at least a minimum standard of medical care and treatment. The policy applies to all Merck employees and dependents globally to lessen the social, economic and health burdens that accompany HIV, AIDS, TB, and malaria. Subsequently, many other companies have established similar policies and practices. 
• Merck Vaccine Network-Africa (MVN-A): Merck initiated the MVN-A project in 2003 to provide vaccine management and immunization training in Kenya and Mali to health professionals, helping to increase the capacity of immunization programs. The program expanded in 2007 to include programs in Zambia and Uganda. To date, more than 510 health professionals in Kenya, and Mali, Uganda and Zambia have completed MVN-A training on a wide range of topics, including management training on storing and handling vaccines safely; forecasting community needs to ensure an adequate vaccine supply, planning and conducting disease surveillance activities; and providing supportive supervision to lower-level staff. Training sessions continue and participants are sharing lessons learned with colleagues locally.
• Merck is working with the Global Health Workforce Alliance, an international partnership established in May 2006 to raise awareness of the looming shortage of millions of health workers in the developing world, caused by migration, the impact of HIV and AIDS and other infectious diseases, and the lack of sufficient training and related resources to produce new health workers. 
• GARDASIL Access Program: In September 2007, Merck announced at the Clinton Global Initiative a major vaccine access initiative to help address the problem of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in lowest-income countries. Through the GARDASIL® Access Program, Merck pledged to donate at least three million doses of Merck's cervical cancer vaccine over five years to support cervical cancer vaccination in lowest-income, GAVI-eligible countries.  

Implementing Ethical Business Practices

Merck is committed to extending and supporting ethical business practices wherever we work by actively promoting the development of codes and standards for such practices. Accordingly, Merck works with Transparency International to eliminate corruption and promote transparency. Merck is also a founding member of the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative (PSCI), which seeks to promote responsible labor, ethical and environmental standards among external manufacturing suppliers.

Managing our Environmental Impact

Merck collaborates with ENERGY STAR to promote environmental stewardship and the wise use of energy, which are essential components of corporate responsibility and sustainability. We also participate in both the  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Leaders and the Business Roundtable Climate Resolve programs, which focus on voluntary reductions of greenhouse gases.

Through our association with the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute, Merck is collaborating with researchers at the University of Michigan and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America to assess the environmental footprints associated with methods of disposal of unused medicines. 

Merck was a founding member of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Green Chemistry Institute (GCI) Pharmaceutical Roundtable and the Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI). The ACS GCI Pharmaceutical Roundtable focuses on innovation and adoption of green chemistry and green manufacturing principles to help make the pharmaceutical industry more sustainable. GEMI is a coalition of companies whose mission is to help business improve environmental, health and safety performance, and enhance shareholder value and corporate citizenship.

Through Merck's Champions for the Environment Program, for more than a decade, Merck employees globally have volunteered thousands of hours for environmental projects with local groups. The Merck Company Foundation provides grants for environmental projects initiated by employees in their communities worldwide. Each project is "championed" by a Merck employee on behalf of local not-for-profit partners such as schools, local government and environmental and youth organizations.