Merck and the Royal Health Awareness Society Partner to Advance Women's Health in Jordan

PR65854

DARMSTADT, Germany, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

     - New partnership under Healthy Women, Healthy Economies initiative

facilitates women to overcome health barriers to economic participation

    Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced its

partnership with the Royal Health Awareness Society (RHAS) of Jordan to advance

health awareness and education particularly on thyroid disease amongst

Jordanian women. Women are five to eight times more likely to suffer from

thyroid disorders than men[1]. This memorandum of understanding and its

resulting policies, which has been signed today, will support women's health

and well-being in Jordan, helping women to be more active participants in their

local economies.

    (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160922/410985 )

    "We are excited about our new partnership with Merck, which opens new

horizons for RHAS to scale up and expand its outreach with a particular focus

on women," Hanin Odeh, Director General of RHAS, commented on the signing.

"Through this initiative, we are not only helping women look after the health

of their children and families better, but more importantly, ensuring that

women are looking after their own health. No doubt, if women are not healthy,

we are jeopardizing our country's potential on various levels. We are glad that

we could benefit from Merck's experience in this area, and adapt scientific and

tested approaches, towards a healthier Jordan."

    The memorandum is part of the global Healthy Women, Healthy Economies

[http://healthywomen.apec.org ] initiative, an innovative public-private

partnership that explicitly links the issue of women's health and well-being

with economic growth. The partnership will focus on developing a thyroid

awareness campaign through expanding the Healthy Community Clinic program under

RHAS' umbrella. This campaign aims to reach patients, most of whom are women,

and health practitioners to promote healthy lifestyles, raise awareness on the

importance of diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disease, and it will lay the

ground work for further programs addressing other non-communicable diseases

that disproportionately affect women.

    "Advocating for better health, and especially women's health, creates a

ripple effect, uplifting entire families, communities and future generations.

We are proud to partner with RHAS to expand the Healthy Women, Healthy

Economies initiative into Jordan. When women do better, communities become

stronger and this reflects favourably on economies," said Belen Garijo, Member

of the Executive Board and CEO Healthcare at Merck.

    This memorandum is now the second of its kind signed by Merck under the

program, following a 2015 partnership with the Philippine Department of Health

and Philippine Thyroid Association. Healthy Women, Healthy Economies is an

innovative public-private partnership under the auspices of the Asia Pacific

Economic Cooperation, Merck, and the U.S. and Philippine governments that

explicitly links the issue of women's health and well-being with economic

growth. Merck pursues three strategic spheres of corporate responsibility,

namely health, environment and culture. Healthy Women, Healthy Economies brings

to life Merck's heritage of corporate responsibility and long-term vision to

tackle big issues in health, like gender equality in the workforce and access

to high-quality health solutions.

    Healthy Women, Healthy Economies brings together the evidence about women's

health and well-being and its impact on economic growth with the best practices

that governments, employers and non-governmental organizations can follow. It

aims to identify and implement policies that advance women's health and

well-being to increase their economic participation in the societies they live

in.

    References

    1) According to the American Thyroid Association http://bit.ly/1X9oSBf

    About RHAS

    The Royal Health Awareness Society was established in 2005 under the

direction of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah to promote health awareness

and to empower Jordanians to adopt healthy lifestyles and behaviors. To achieve

its mission, RHAS adopts a comprehensive approach, through implementing

preventative public health and safety programs based on the right to health for

all, targeting school children, youth and the community at large.

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    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 2015, Merck generated sales of EUR 12.85 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.

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SOURCE: Merck