Merck Puts Spotlight on Women's Health and Well-being

PR63511

DARMSTADT, Germany, Feb. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

- Merck's Consumer Health business takes the lead in addressing health and

well-being challenges of women around the world

- Experts worldwide join a debate on how best to close the gap between the

future vision and current reality

- Global study of the Economist Intelligence Unit, commissioned by Consumer

Health, shows stakeholders struggle to manage well-being expansion beyond

health

Merck, a leading science and technology company, today took the lead in

addressing health and well-being challenges of women in different cultures and

at different life stages. At the "Global Consumer Health Debate 2016", which

took place today at the company's global headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, an

international panel of academics, public health specialists, NGO leaders and

business experts discussed with Merck senior executives how best to close the

gap between the future vision of women's health and well-being and the current

reality in countries across the globe.

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     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160218/334624 )

Belen Garijo, member of the Merck Executive Board and CEO Healthcare pointed

out "Women's health and well-being is at the center of our healthcare strategic

priorities at Merck. As a leading provider of healthcare products and services,

we sponsor several corporate responsibility initiatives aimed to help protect

and improve the health status of our female employees as well as actively

participate in worldwide private-public partnerships to address women's

healthcare needs in developed and developing countries."

The basis for today's debate was the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) white

paper, sponsored by Merck Consumer Health, on "Women's Health and Well-Being:

Evolving Definitions and Practices." The findings of the research, which

focused on women, subject-matter experts and public health officials in India,

Mexico, Brazil, France and Germany, were presented for the first time today.

Uta Kemmerich-Keil, CEO and President of Merck's Consumer Health business, said

"Women everywhere are taking significant steps to advance their lives; securing

health and well-being is at the heart of this. They have a high chance of

living up to 100 years, and they aim to live every year to the fullest in good

health and well-being. Interestingly, women across the world are often the

caretakers of the health and well-being of their own families; and they educate

their family members on this topic. Women also represent the majority of

professionals in health care occupations, so they have broadest impact on

improving health and well-being in our societies. However, there are

significant barriers to accessing health and well-being services, which can

have far-reaching consequences for women, for example on their productivity and

quality of life. This is what our debate is aiming to address, hoping that

stakeholders across the globe start looking for better integrated approaches

and sustainable solutions."

Attending the event and also commenting on this gap, Katja Iversen, CEO of

Women Deliver, a globally acting non-governmental organization based in the

USA, said "The past two decades have shown that it pays to invest in women's

health and well-being. We have seen tremendous improvements in some areas

primarily in terms of being free from disease but also in optimizing women's

opportunities and ensuring a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction with

one's life. However, challenges remain, and progress has been uneven across

regions and within countries, as shown by the data released today."

Angela Spatharou, Partner and Healthcare expertise leader for Latin America at

McKinsey & Company in Mexico, acknowledged that industry has a critical role to

play in closing the gap between women's wishes to improve their well-being, and

their real life experiences highlighted in the EIU report by providing access

to the best services, products and information. Alexandra Wyke, CEO of

PatientView, added that it is also critical that both the public health and the

private sector focus more on what women really desire regarding their health

and well-being.

Sanghita Bhattacharyya, Senior Public Health Specialist at the Public Health

Foundation of India, explained during today's event "Beyond a narrow elite,

there is little sign in India that women themselves are becoming more active in

managing their health and well-being. Public health policy has paid limited

attention to the well-being of women beyond their reproductive years. This in

itself is a manifestation of gendered expectations, where even decision makers

have not looked at women beyond their roles as mothers and care givers."

Adding to the debate through the European lens, Prof. Dr. Hilke Brockmann from

the Jacobs University Bremen, Germany, explained "The key question addressed by

the EIU report is how to approach the subjective and objective nature of

well-being. The solution lies in a new way of comparing well-being between life

stages and cultures, taking into account that the concept of well-being

sometimes - as shown by the EIU report - relies more on perception than precise

factors."

Concluding the debate, Uta Kemmerich-Keil declared "The EIU study provides an

extremely significant validation and evidence base for the need to do more in

bridging the gap that exists between where women's health and well-being should

be and where it is today. However, for many of us, the debate and publication

of the report are not enough. Crucially, we now want the conversation to

continue. I hope that sparking debate will raise awareness of the topic, and

that together we can ensure that women's health and well-being remains at the

top of the agenda."

Following today's debate the Consumer Health business of Merck committed to

continue sparking the discussion throughout 2016 on the themes of women's

well-being in emerging and developed countries; the funding of women's health

and well-being; access-to-health and well-being information; and policy

programmes on women's health and well-being.

Note for editors:

- The Global Consumer Health Debate entitled "Addressing the Diverse Health and

Well-Being Challenges of Women around the World" took place in Darmstadt,

Germany, on 22 February 2016.

- Further information, including the EIU study, is available at

http://www.merck-consumer-health.com/en/industry/industry.html

- Merck Consumer Health on Twitter: https://twitter.com/merck_ch

All Merck Press Releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become

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About Merck's Consumer Health Business

Brands of the Consumer Health business, such as Dolo-Neurobion(R),

Neurobion(R), Bion(R), Seven Seas(R), Nasivin(R), and Femibion(R) are

innovative leaders in key markets, backed by science and trusted by consumers

worldwide. The Consumer Health business is with over 2,700 employees globally

active in over 40 markets. Since 2014, the portfolio comprises of brands with

annual total sales of about $ 1 billion. Consumer Health is a business of the

Healthcare business sector within the Merck Group with global headquarters in

Darmstadt, Germany. For more information please go to

http://www.merck-consumer-health.com as well as to https://twitter.com/merck_ch.

About Merck

Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science

and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop

technologies that improve and enhance life - from biopharmaceutical therapies

to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific

research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD

televisions. In 2014, Merck generated sales of EUR 11.3 billion in 66 countries.

Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical

company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed

corporate group. Merck, Darmstadt, Germany holds the global rights to the Merck

name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the

company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.

Lars Atorf

+49-6151-856-3114

Source: Merck KGaA