As a pharmaceutical company, Merck bears special responsibility for human health. For this reason, we entered into a ten-year partnership with WHO in 2007 that is enabling 27 million African school children to be treated for schistosomiasis. Within the scope of the Merck Praziquantel Donation Program, by 2017 Merck will have donated 200 million tablets of Cesol® 600 with the active ingredient praziquantel.

• Read more on Merck Praziquantel Donation Program to fight shistosomiasis.
• Schistosomiasis video and background information in M – The Explorer Magazine

Responsibility for our products is at the core of our corporate responsibility. Innovative products such as liquid crystals and OLEDs are the basis of not only our past success, but also our future. In both business sectors – Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals – the following applies: Products from Merck are extensively tested before they reach the market. The linchpins are quality, the benefits and product safety for people and the environment.

• Sustainable product development and product safety at Merck
• Energy efficiency of Merck products

Merck has set itself the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by the year 2020. Reducing energy consumption and utilizing renewable energy resources are at the center of this effort. For example our Merck Millipore sites in Bedford and Billerica, Massachusetts U.S., and Molsheim, France have photovoltaic installations capable of generating 1,480 gigajoules (or over 400,000 kWhs) of energy per year.

• Environmental protection at Merck
• Sustainability at Merck Millipore

"We want to achieve entrepreneurial success that is based upon ethical values and creates economic value. Only then can we live up to our responsibility to our stakeholders, namely the customers, providers of capital, members of the community and employees who place justified demands on our actions. Merck has expressed its commitment to the ten principles of United Nations’ Global Compact." Dr. Karl-Ludwig Kley Chairman of the Executive Board