Merck publishes 2013 global corporate responsibility report

Merck (NYSE:MRK), known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, today issued its 2013 global corporate responsibility report. The report, available at www.merckresponsibility.com, focuses on the company’s corporate responsibility activities, progress and performance during 2013 in four priority areas where Merck is positioned to have a positive impact: Access to Health, Environmental Sustainability, Employees and Ethics and Transparency.

Highlights from the 2013 report include:

• Reached more than 340 million people through our major programs and partnerships to help address barriers to access
• Continued to work with partners to help ensure that infants and girls in the poorest countries have access to our vaccines
• Through our ground-breaking partnership to treat river blindness, Colombia became the first country to eliminate the disease
• Working in close collaboration with more than 75 implementing partners, Merck for Mothers initiated more than 50 projects in 30 countries
• Implemented a new streamlined environmental strategy that focuses on the issues that are most important to our business and our stakeholders
• Narrowed our environmental sustainability goals to the critical few that align with our business and focus on key global environmental challenges
• Leveraged the scientific and business skills of our employees through the Richard T. Clark Fellowship for World Health to help address the health needs of underserved populations
• Recognized for the 11th consecutive year as a Top 50 Company for Diversity by DiversityInc
• Ranked No.1 in the CPA-Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability for three consecutive years

Merck continues to use several external guidelines and measurement frameworks to inform the scope of its reporting, including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI G4) Guidelines, the Millennium Development Goals, the Access to Medicine Index and the United Nations Global Compact. In addition to the comprehensive report at www.merckresponsibility.com, Merck has published an executive summary highlighting various programs and partnerships that exemplify the company’s corporate responsibility commitments. The executive summary is available at www.merckresponsibility.com and www.merckcr.com. Future information will be provided through a Twitter conversation at #BeWell.