Merck supports initiatives to improve access to life-saving medicines and vaccines in developing countries around the world. Our efforts to address health care challenges go beyond research and development of novel treatments to include seeking out and supporting initiatives that foster disease education, prevention and treatment and promote sustainable access to medicines, vaccines and quality health care.
(Photo: Bill Vanderdecker, Merck & Co., Inc.)
Consistent with our goal of expanding access to medicines, Merck has lowered prices on selected products in certain less developed nations to help countries without the necessary resources pay for medicines to respond to urgent public health crises. But price is only one part of the access equation. The challenges to improving access to medicines, vaccines and quality health care in the developing world are complex and require multifaceted approaches and solutions. All too often, access to medicines is limited by inadequate health care infrastructure, lack of expertise and insufficient political will.
Merck is working to address these challenges through policies and programs aimed at:
- Making our medicines and vaccines available to those around the world who need them;
- Helping to increase health care capacity and expand delivery systems;
- Building partnerships that draw on the complementary expertise of all stakeholders - governments, international agencies, community organizations, donors, the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, patients and others - to identify the most promising and efficient ways to ensure sustainable access to medicine in developing countries and to address the impact of diseases in a variety of resource-scarce settings. We also work through innovative partnerships to help assess disease burden, evaluate effective models for vaccine introduction, and pursue programs to demonstrate feasibility of immunization programs and the impact of vaccine introduction.
Through these and other efforts, Merck hopes to make a substantial contribution to achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, including halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015 (Goal 6, Target 7), reducing childhood mortality by 2015 (Goal 4)and developing public-private development partnerships to improve access to medicines in developing countries (Goal 8, Target 17).
To view other examples of how Merck is working across sectors to improve health in the developing world, click on the links below:
