Beirut, April 16, 2020 – MSD in Lebanon, (known as Merck & Co in the US and Canada) today announced a cash and medicines donation valued at more than $500,000 to the healthcare sector in Lebanon. This donation is in response to calls for support by the Prime Minister during the COVID-19 outbreak in Lebanon.
The donation will support various institutions, hospitals and medical associations in their ongoing efforts against the COVID-19 outbreak. Furthermore, the cash and medicines donation will be used to deliver healthcare to patients who are suffering from many conditions such as cancer and whose access to routine health care may have been interrupted during the containment stage.
“We are grateful to the Government and to all healthcare providers for everything that they are doing to protect the Lebanese people and to ensure their wellbeing and safety during this global public health crisis,” said Okan Isikci, General Manager of MSD Levant. “We recognize that the officials are experiencing challenges never-before anticipated. We also want to thank all the healthcare workers and those on the front lines of this health crisis who are treating and saving as many lives as they can. We say Thank You and we salute you.”
MSD is focused on protecting the safety of its employees and their families, ensuring that our supply of medicines and vaccines reach our patients, contributing our scientific expertise to the development of antiviral approaches, and supporting our healthcare providers and our communities. MSD has also launched a program to enable our medically trained employees to volunteer their time to aid their communities while maintaining their base pay. This volunteering includes several members of MSD staff in the Levant.
About MSD
For more than 125 years, MSD has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world’s most challenging diseases in pursuit of our mission to save and improve lives. MSD is a trade name of Merck & Co., Inc., with headquarters in Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A. We demonstrate our commitment to patients and population health by increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. Today, MSD continues to be at the forefront of research to prevent and treat diseases that threaten people and animals – including cancer, infectious diseases such as HIV and Ebola, and emerging animal diseases – as we aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world. For more information, visit www.msd.com and connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.