Merck Announces Next Round of Global Grants to Improve Maternal Health Care in Africa and the Middle East

May 23, 2024 – Merck announced its second round of Global Grants in 2024 as part of its Merck for Mothers initiative, which is helping create a world where no woman has to die while giving life. Extending its reach and impact in Algeria, Liberia, South Africa and Türkiye, Merck is collaborating with four organizations each seeking to address the maternal health needs of women locally.

According to the World Health Organization, maternal mortality rates have improved over the past several decades, however communities across Africa and the Middle East continue to face an array of challenges limiting access to equitable maternal health care. With Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounting for around 70% of maternal deaths, factors such as poverty, transportation availability and distance to care and inadequate health care services have hindered sustained improvement.

“As we welcome new collaborators, we are eager to support more efforts dedicated to addressing disparities in maternal health and access to care for communities across Africa and the Middle East," said Mark Allen, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Global Programs, Merck for Mothers. “Expanding our Global Grants programming is a key step in progressing our mission and implementing new solutions for safe and high-quality health care around pregnancy and childbirth.”

Merck for Mothers has grown into an essential component of Merck’s commitment to reaching 50 million people with social investments by 2025. Since 2012, the Merck for Mothers Global Grants program has enabled Merck offices to support organizations that are improving maternal health around the world with over 85 projects across more than 45 global sites and training more than 78,000 health care workers with targeted, region-specific approaches.

The following newly selected grantees represent a continuation of the company’s commitment to working across sectors to improve the health and well-being of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the months after:

• Algeria | Association AIDS Algeria is improving access to prevention services for mother-to-child transmission of HIV for pregnant women and women of reproductive age.
• Liberia | Last Mile Health is establishing mother-to-mother peer support groups to strengthen communication, information sharing and referrals among pregnant women and women of reproductive age.
• South Africa | Solina Centre for International Development and Research, in collaboration with Clinton Health Access Initiative, is aiming to enhance the quality and efficiency of sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health care across all levels of the health system by building clinical capacity, improving the availability of resources and strengthening data systems.
• Türkiye | TAPV is addressing the maternal health needs of the region impacted by the 2023 earthquake.

To learn more about the Merck for Mothers Global Grants program, including current and past grantees, please visit: https://www.merckformothers.com/where-we-work/global-grants.html