Merck & Co., Inc

Merck & Co., Inc. is a global research-driven pharmaceutical company dedicated to putting patients first. Established in 1891, Merck discovers, develops, manufactures and markets vaccines and medicines in over 20 therapeutic categories. The company also devotes extensive efforts to increase access to medicines through far-reaching programs that not only donate Merck medicines but help deliver them to the people who need them. Merck also publishes unbiased health information as a not-for-profit service. For more information, visit www.merck.com.

The African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP)

The African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP) is a collaboration between the Government of Botswana (GOB), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and The Merck Company Foundation/Merck & Co., Inc., to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS in Botswana. ACHAP, established in July 2000, supports the goals of the GOB to decrease HIV incidence and significantly increase the rate of diagnosis and the treatment of the disease, by rapidly advancing prevention programmes, healthcare access, patient management and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Merck Company Foundation have each dedicated US$50 million over five years towards the project. Merck & Co., Inc., is also donating two anti-retroviral medicines for appropriate treatment programmes developed by the GOB for the duration of the initiative.

Publications:

The Front Line in the War Against HIV/AIDS in Botswana:
Case Studies from the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP)

The ICN-Merck Mobile Library project

Since 2002, a partnership between the International Council of Nurses (ICN), Merck and Elsevier, the world’s largest publisher of nursing books, has been helping nurses in Africa gain much-needed access to quality health care information. The ICN-Merck Mobile Library project provides health care reference books to nurses in nine African countries, including Swaziland, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Somalia, Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia and Ghana.

More than 80 mobile libraries, each comprising 91 specially selected books, bring up-to-date information on family and community health, disease prevention, health promotion and health services training to nurses who have limited access to reference books or expert advice. Altogether, the libraries have reached 83 rural communities and helped to improve the quality of care for tens of thousands of people.

Merck Press Release:

ICN-Merck Mobile Libraries Fills Critical Health Care Gap in Africa

Merck Vaccine Network-Africa Center

The MVN-A Center, which is supported by a grant from The Merck Company Foundation, is designed to contribute to improving the immunization infrastructure in Mali and West Africa.

MVN-A Mali is the latest component of an established collaborative relationship between the Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and the Center pour le Developpement du Vaccins, Mali. Through MVN-A, a network of vaccination training centers are being established as a way of creating a sustainable source of skilled healthcare workers across Africa.

Over the past year, the Mali team, working closely with the Mali Ministry of Health, WHO and health care facilities across the country, assembled a staff; conducted a comprehensive assessment of local immunization management needs; identified, recruited and enrolled trainees; and developed a training curriculum. The curriculum is based on educational materials developed by the WHO and partners of GAVI, and addresses the needs identified in the Mali assessment.

In February 2005, 15 immunization managers completed the first vaccination management skills training program of the Merck Vaccine Network - Africa (MVN-A) Center in Mali. During the week-long program held at the Center pour le Developpement du Vaccins, Mali (Center for Vaccine Development, Mali), immunization managers participated in training sessions on how to store and handle vaccines safely, provide vaccination services, and conduct immunization surveillance and disease monitoring activities.

MVN-A is an important part of Merck's commitment to improving access to medicines and vaccines in the developing world through donation programs, disease education, training and services initiatives, and public-private partnerships. In addition to the center in Mali, the Kenya MVN-A training center has conducted two training courses since opening in July, 2004. The efforts in Kenya build on the ongoing research collaboration between the Indiana University School of Medicine and Moi University Faculty of Health Sciences in Eldoret, Kenya.

Merck Press Release: Merck Vaccine Network-Africa Center in Mali Hosts First Immunization Training Program

The Accelerating Access Initiative (AAI)

Merck is a founding member of the UN/Industry Accelerating Access Initiative (AAI). Established in May 2000, AAI is a cooperative endeavor of UNAIDS, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNFPA and the World Bank, and several 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.

HIV/AIDS Pricing Policy

Consistent with our commitment to increasing access, Merck provides its current antiretrovirals to developing world and emerging market countries at deeply discounted prices.

In 2001, Merck announced price reduction guidelines for its current HIV/AIDS medicines, based on the generally accepted United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Human Development Index (HDI) and UNAIDS adult HIV prevalence data.

Based on these guidelines, Merck makes no profit on the sale of its current HIV/AIDS medicines in the world's poorest countries and those hardest hit by the pandemic. For medium HDI countries with an adult HIV prevalence of less than 1 percent, the company's two HIV/AIDS vaccines are available at significantly reduced prices. For high HDI countries, Merck makes its antiretroviral (ARV) medicines available at market-based prices that take into account local purchasing power and competitive products.

To date, the company has offered these medicines at discounted prices to purchasers in the public and private sectors in more than 110 countries. The offer extends not only to the governments of these developing countries, but also to other stakeholders undertaking care and treatment programs, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), charitable organizations and private-sector employers. By the end of June 2005, more than 360,000 patients in 76 developing world countries were being treated with regimens containing Merck's HIV/AIDS medicines.