Merck giving Gardasil to poor countries

Drugmaker Merck & Co. plans to donate enough doses of its cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil, to inoculate 1 million women in some of the world’s poorest countries. Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck announced the gift today at the third annual Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York. The company said at least 3 million doses of Gardasil are to be distributed over the next five years. The vaccine is given in three shots, spread over six months. Cervical cancer, caused by a sexually transmitted virus, is the No. 2 cause of cancer deaths worldwide, with nearly 500,000 new cases and 250,000 deaths each year. Most deaths occur in poor nations, where women rarely get tests to detect cervical cancer early, when it is most curable. Merck plans to partner with a nongovernment organization to set up programs to distribute the vaccine in countries yet to be chosen. Image source: media3.washingtonpost.com. > Continue.

News selected by Covalence | Country: Global | Company: Merck & Co | Source: AP / Daily Record