Local Community Performance Data Summary 2005-2008

	2008	2007	2006	2005
Global Tax expense as reported on income statement (US$)	1,999.4 (1.2 Billion)	0.95 Billion	1.79 Billion	2.73 Billion
Number of employees globally	55,200	59,800	60,000	61,500
Cash contributions to community programs (US$)
Art	170,000	220,350	297,641	839,922
Civic	122,500	226,000	244,500	316,250
Education	300,671	392,280	277,200	469,000
Environment	186,000	171,035	196,700	315,800
Human Health Services	622,500	559,725	543,672	894,554
Disaster Relief (US$)	1.4 million	325,000	410,000	2 million
Partnership For Giving (US$)
Art	831,995	815,919	431,942	133,518
Education	3,956,232	3,973,000	2,230,405	2,302,088
Human Health Services	6,877,533	6,345,000	6,160,780	7,182,898

In March 2009, Merck started to report charitable contributions made through the Office of Corporate Philanthropy and The Merck Company Foundation. Information provided on our website includes the name of the organization, program name/description, and the amount of the grant provided. Merck will update this list annually providing a full 2009 report in 1Q2010. For more information click here.

Community Impacts

As of December 31, 2008, we employed 55,200 people globally. In addition, the Company works with suppliers from around the world to procure goods and services, contributing approximately $8.3 billion dollars annually to communities. Over the past five years (2004 - 2008), we made cumulative payments in excess of $12 billion for income taxes worldwide.

For more information, please see our Form 10-K (PDF*) for the year ended December 31, 2008. State and local taxes help fund services such as schools, police forces and the upkeep of roads.

Despite our best intentions and precautions, accidents in our communities do happen. In June 2006, we accidentally released 25 gallons of potassium thiocyanate from a manufacturing site that resulted in a fish kill in the Wissahickon Creek in Pennsylvania. Other discharge of non-toxic materials in August that same year caused foaming in the creek. Following these events, Merck entered into a Consent Decree with the United States of America, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. The settlement involved civil penalties in the amount of $1.575 million; funding of supplemental environmental projects in the amount of $9 million; and implemention of on-site remedial measures in the amount of $10 million. For more information, please see our report on Form 10-K (PDF*) for the year ended December 31, 2008.

Specific site wastewater improvements included:

• Installation of wastewater tanks in targeted areas to contain unusual or any potentially abnormal releases;
• Implementation of an electronic tool to predict the cumulative impact of wastewater discharges into the site wastewater sewer system; and
• Establishment of an electronic system to account for chemical materials located throughout the site.

Community environmental improvement projects included:

• Payment of a significant portion of the purchase price to enable the Whitemarsh Foundation to purchase 100 acres of land on Erdenheim Farm known as the "Angus Tract." The land, located in Erdenheim, Pennsylvania, and bordering the Wissahickon Creek in Montgomery County, will be preserved as open space;
• Purchase and installation of an early warning system that monitors fish activity to provide advance notice to the Philadelphia Water Department of materials in the Wissahickon Creek that may threaten drinking water quality; and
• Purchase and installation of improvements to the Upper Gwynedd Township Sewage Treatment plant.

We believe the settlement was fair, and are pleased that it includes important projects that will result in permanent benefits to our local environment.