Merck CEO Touts Importance of Community Involvement, Cites African HIV/AIDS Drug Provision, Education as Example
Merck CEO Raymond Gilmartin on Tuesday, while speaking to business leaders attending the Nevada Committee on Foreign Relations in Las Vegas and Reno, Nev., discussed the company's involvement in fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa as an example of the importance of philanthropy and community involvement, the Las Vegas Sun reports. Merck has partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to provide $50 million for physician and nurse training, diagnostic centers, counseling and medications for about 30,000 HIV-positive people worldwide, according to the Sun. Gilmartin said HIV/AIDS also is "destroying lives" in India, Russia and China, where other large corporations are helping with training and HIV/AIDS education, according to the Sun. Without intervention in these countries, companies' employees, customers and the national economies that support them would be devastated, Gilmartin said. "There's a new role for corporate America to play in global health and development," Gilmartin said, adding, "While you may not be directly impacted by the battle, you are affected by its outcome. Global health care challenges and their impact on the world's economy affect our communities, our companies and our country" (Swafford, Las Vegas Sun, 10/13).
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