KENILWORTH, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Merck (NYSE:MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today issued its 2015/2016 global corporate responsibility report. The report reflects the company’s performance in the areas of Access to Health, Environmental Sustainability, Employees and Ethics & Transparency.

“As we celebrate our company’s 125th anniversary as a global health care leader, we look forward to building on our history of innovation and its lasting impact on people and societies around the world,” said Kenneth C. Frazier, chairman and chief executive officer, Merck. “Our legacy is a powerful reminder of the difference great medicines can make in the lives of generations, and of our responsibility to invest in new solutions to address tomorrow’s pressing health care needs.”

Making a Difference

Corporate responsibility is at the core of Merck’s mission and drives us to find solutions to the world’s greatest health challenges while growing our business in a sustainable way. Our approach is aligned with our mission and values and focuses on four key priorities of access to health, environmental sustainability, employee health and well-being, and ethics and transparency. Highlights from this year’s report include:

• Advancing our pipeline in areas of significant unmet medical need, including cancer, the hepatitis C virus and life-threatening infections;
• Recognizing retired Merck scientist William C. Campbell, Ph.D., for receiving the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology for his discovery leading to a treatment for river blindness;
• Protecting the lives of mothers and children through Merck for Mothers, including work with partners to reduce maternal mortality rates by nearly half in target districts of Uganda and Zambia, and decreasing stock-outs of contraceptives in Senegal from more than 80 percent to less than 2 percent nationwide;
• Launching products and initiatives to protect the health and well-being of companion animals, food production animals and equine through our Animal Health business while supporting the education of the next generation of veterinarians who will lead the animal health industry in the future;
• Attaining all three of our environmental goals ahead of schedule, including a 29 percent reduction in water use since 2009, and a 22 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 2012;
• Significantly increasing business with diverse suppliers and small enterprises, and instituting a more formal program to evaluate the risks for labor and human rights impacts in the supply chain;
• Initiating a volunteerism campaign in recognition of the company’s 125^th anniversary, challenging employees to report 125,000 volunteer hours to support their local communities; and
• Launching a comprehensive strategic plan to attract and retain talent while building an inclusive workplace where every employee can thrive and where we leverage our diversity for greater innovations in cutting edge science.

Merck continues to use several external guidelines and measurement frameworks to inform the scope of its reporting, including the Global Reporting Initiative, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Access to Medicine Index and the 10 principles of the United Nations Global Compact.

To find out more, read the 2015/2016 Merck Corporate Responsibility Report.

About Merck

For 125 years, Merck has been a global health care leader working to help the world be well. Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statement of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA

This news release of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA (the “company”) includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. There can be no guarantees with respect to pipeline products that the products will receive the necessary regulatory approvals or that they will prove to be commercially successful. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

Risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation in the United States and internationally; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the company’s ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the company’s patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions.

The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the company’s 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC’s Internet site (www.sec.gov).