Merck for Mothers: Committed to Saving Lives
Our vision is of a world where no woman dies giving life. Merck for Mothers is an initiative of Merck, a global
healthcare leader committed to improving health and well-being
Merck for Mothers is our 10-year, $500 million initiative to address one of the world’s oldest and most
preventable health tragedies—the death of a woman from complications experienced during pregnancy and
childbirth. Working closely with governments, international organizations, health experts, and healthcare
workers, Merck brings a century-and-a-half of scientific innovation and dedication to the global fight against
maternal mortality.
The Opportunity
Although maternal mortality has declined substantially over the past two decades,i one death is still too many.
Eight hundred women die during complications related to pregnancy and childbirth every day.ii When a woman
dies, the ripple effects on her family and community are enormous: her baby is more likely to die and her
other children are up to 10 times more likely to leave school, suffer from poor health, or die prematurely.iii
The vast majority of these deaths occur in developing countries and the tragedy is that we have the ability to
prevent most of them.
Our Approach
In 2011, Merck joined the global effort to achieve United Nations Millennium Development Goal 5, which calls
for a 75 percent reduction in the rate of maternal mortality by 2015. Merck for Mothers was created to
address the two leading causes of maternal mortality globally – postpartum hemorrhage (excessive bleeding
after childbirth) and preeclampsia (hypertensive disorders).iv We are also focusing on family planning, which is
known to play an important role in reducing maternal mortality.v
Our Strategy
Merck for Mothers builds on Merck’s legacy of taking on urgent global health challenges. We are applying our
scientific expertise, business skills, and financial and human resources to the effort. The three pillars of our
strategy are:
1. Product Innovation
Simple, low-cost technologies have great potential to save a woman’s life, but often they are not reaching
those who need them.
We are evaluating opportunities to advance the development of innovative technologies and products that
have the greatest potential to save women’s lives. In addition, we supported an evaluation by PATH – a leading
non-governmental global health focused organization – that looked at nearly 40 technologies designed to
ensure a safe pregnancy and childbirth in settings with limited infrastructure. This project led to the creation of
a novel assessment tool that can help inform decisions about which technologies to invest in to improve
maternal health and is available at http://sites.path.org/mnhtech/assessment/tool/.
2. Access to Affordable, Quality Care
We are supporting programs in countries and regions with high rates of maternal mortality to expand access to
proven maternal health solutions and help establish models for care that are effective, sustainable, and longlasting. Working with in-country partners who are maternal health experts, our programs are tailored to
address the specific needs of the communities we are serving. In sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, more
people are turning to the local, private health sector – independent physicians, nurses, midwives, pharmacists,
community health workers – as their first source of care. For this reason, in India, Uganda, and Zambia, we are
focusing on the role that the private health sector can play in the delivery of maternal healthcare. Our
programs seek to improve the quality of this care, make it more affordable, and ensure that it is easier to
access. Working closely with local governments, our goal is to ensure that more women receive high quality
care wherever they give birth.
In Uganda and Zambia, our programs complement the efforts of Saving Mothers, Giving Life (SMGL), a publicprivate partnership of which we are a founding partner. SMGL’s goal is to dramatically reduce maternal
mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. In the first year of the partnership, the number of pregnant women delivering
in health facilities in pilot districts increased substantially, and hundreds of health workers have been trained
to provide emergency obstetric and newborn care in both countries.
Although the maternal mortality rate is declining in most countries around the world, it has nearly doubled in
the United States since 1990. The U.S. now ranks 47th, behind nearly all industrialized nations.vi Merck for
Mothers has initiated programs that address both maternal deaths as well as severe complications during
pregnancy and childbirth, which affect more than 50,000 American women each year.vii
In Brazil, we are working closely with the government to conduct a survey of health providers and
administrators in hospitals to determine why maternal deaths are occurring in these settings. Based on the
findings, we will develop initiatives to improve the quality of care.
We have joined forces with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on a $50 million collaboration to improve
access to family planning and started our first project in Senegal to expand an innovative model for ensuring
the availability of contraceptive supplies.
In addition to our partnerships in these six countries, the Merck for Mothers’ Global Giving Program – a joint
effort with MSD country offices – is supporting projects to improve maternal health in 20 countries around the
world, including Indonesia, Lebanon, Malawi, Peru, and the Philippines.
3. Awareness and Advocacy
Raising public awareness of maternal mortality is key to making strides to save women’s lives. That is why we
launched a public awareness campaign in the U.S., including a Facebook page, to educate and engage the
public around issues of maternal mortality and pregnancy complications.
Our advocacy efforts are focused on accelerating progress in finding solutions to the challenges of maternal
mortality. In collaboration with governments, multilateral agencies, NGOs, companies, and foundations, Merck
is contributing a business mindset to the outstanding initiatives underway.
Together with our partners, we continue working towards the goal of creating a world where no woman dies
during pregnancy or childbirth.
For more information on our efforts, visit www.merckformothers.com.
Updated October 2013
i
WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank. “Trends in Maternal Mortality 1990-2010.” (Geneva, 2012).
http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/monitoring/9789241503631/en/
ii
Ibid.
iii
White Ribbon Alliance/CARE. “Mother’s Day Every Day” Fact Sheet.
iv
WHO, UNICEF. “Countdown Report to 2015: Maternal, Newborn & Child Health. Building a Future for Women and Children:
The 2012 Report” http://countdown2015mnch.org/documents/2012Report/2012-Complete.pdf
v
Ibid.
vi
vii
“Trends in Maternal Mortality 1990-2010.”
Callaghan, W. M., Creanga, A. A., & Kuklina, E. V. (2012). Severe maternal morbidity among delivery and postpartum hospitalizations in the United
States. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 120(5), 1029-36.