Merck Announces the Kenneth C. Frazier Award for Maternal Health Equity to Accelerate Progress towards Improved Birth Outcomes for All - Seite 2

This new award builds on 100+ strategic social investments by Merck for Mothers since its inception, many of which are tailored to addressing health equity head-on through the advancement of innovative approaches to tackle racial inequities in maternal health outcomes. Most recently, Merck for Mothers announced a second round of Safer Childbirth Cities grants to make U.S. cities safer and more equitable places to give birth and a fifth round of projects through its Global Grants program aimed at advancing maternal health equity globally.

“Setting up women to thrive over a lifetime and reversing the concerning maternal mortality trends we see globally requires confronting inequalities in access to quality care,” said Dr. Mary-Ann Etiebet, lead, Merck for Mothers. “Through the organizations and leadership we will recognize through the Kenneth C. Frazier Award for Maternal Health Equity, we hope to highlight the work of organizations that are championing equitable maternal health outcomes and birth justice.”

To learn more about Merck for Mothers, our commitment to advancing health equity and our impact, please visit: MerckforMothers.com.

About Merck

For 130 years, Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases in pursuit of our mission to save and improve lives. We demonstrate our commitment to patients and population health by increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. Today, Merck continues to be at the forefront of research to prevent and treat diseases that threaten people and animals – including cancer, infectious diseases such as HIV and Ebola, and emerging animal diseases – as we aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

About Merck for Mothers

Merck for Mothers is our company’s $500 million initiative to help create a world where no woman has to die while giving life. Applying Merck’s business and scientific resources for nearly a decade, we collaborate across sectors — working with governments, nongovernmental organizations, patient groups, professional associations, entrepreneurs, UN agencies, research institutions, other businesses and even other pharmaceutical companies - to improve the health and well-being of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period in support of the Sustainable Development Goals. Our efforts are focused on generating fresh thinking and infusing new approaches to help end the longstanding challenge of maternal mortality. We envision a world where every prenatal visit, every labor and delivery and every postpartum encounter for the year after childbirth should help people have the healthiest outcomes possible. We take a holistic approach to advancing high-quality maternity care, catalyzing solutions that respond to community needs and harnessing innovations to help improve maternal health and save women’s lives by strengthening health systems and how health care is delivered today and tomorrow. For more information, visit www.merckformothers.com.