Merck commits to improve water quality in India

Healthcare company Merck has joined forces with the Safe Water Network (SWN) in a bid to increase access to clean water and reduce the impact of waterborne diseases in Andhra Pradesh, India.


As part of the project, Merck will collaborate with non-profit organisation SWN to provide core business expertise, advocacy efforts and employee social responsibility programmes to help build on its on-going field activities in the region.

In addition, the partners will work together to raise awareness of the importance of clean water and hygiene in an attempt to drive behaviour change.

Coinciding with World Water Day 2012, Merck said that water safety plays a major role in its corporate responsibility approach as a signatory to the UN’s Water Mandate.

Merck managing director K. G. Ananthakrishnan, said: “Clean water is fundamental to the world’s health and to Merck’s mission of fighting disease and helping the world be well. Nowhere is this truer than in India, which faces a significant challenge related to clean water.

“Our partnership with Safe Water Network is a testament of our commitment to help reduce the impact of water-related illness in India and of Merck’s overall efforts to improve health globally.”

Safe Water Network CEO Kurt Soderlund said that the partnership would help it “accelerate work to develop solutions that can be broadly replicated”, adding that the initiative “demonstrates how companies like Merck can play an important role in developing solutions to global water challenges”.

Carys Matthews

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