MSD and Safe Water Network have launched a three-year, $1.5 m partnership to increase access to safe water and reduce the impact of water-borne disease among impoverished communities in Andhra Pradesh. MSD is a trade name of Merck & Co. Inc., with headquarters in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, USA. Safe Water Network is a not-for-profit organization committed to developing locally owned and operated water-purification systems that achieve lasting health impact.

This initiative addresses a critical need in India where an estimated 70 – 80 per cent of the total burden of disease is related to water contamination and poor sanitation, and where more than 120,000 children under the age of five die each year from rotavirus diarrhea alone.

“Clean water is fundamental to the world’s health and to MSD’s mission of fighting disease and helping the world be well. No where is this more true than in India, which faces a significant challenge related to clean water," said K G Ananthakrishnan, managing director, MSD India.

"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 MSD’s overall efforts to improve health globally."

Building on Safe Water Network’s field activities in the area, this collaboration will provide clean water to additional villages in Andhra Pradesh and develop demand generation programs that seek to increase household usage. Together, MSD and Safe Water Network will also work to increase awareness of the importance of clean water and hygiene to drive behaviour change.

The campaigns will be assessed to measure the impact on safe water usage and improved health.

"This partnership aims to expand the impact of our safe-water projects,” said Kurt Soderlund, chief executive officer, Safe Water Network. “It will accelerate our work to develop solutions that can be broadly replicated. The initiative demonstrates how companies like MSD can play an important role in developing solutions to global water challenges.”

This collaboration is aligned with MSD’s commitment to addressing access to clean water, a key component of the company's corporate responsibility approach. A signatory to the UN's CEO Water Mandate, MSD will apply its core business expertise, advocacy efforts and employee social responsibility programmes to address access to clean water in India.