Merck & Co.’s charitable foundation has committed $22 million to efforts to improve access to care for people with heart disease in the U.S.
Through the five-year initiative, the Merck Foundation will provide grants to 11 organizations working to improve health outcomes in places where timely access to cardiovascular care is a challenge. The recipients of the grants comprise nonprofit healthcare and public health organizations that are working with local community-based groups.
By backing projects across the U.S., the foundation is hoping to bridge gaps in the delivery of care for a range of heart conditions, saying in this week’s launch announcement that it sees the work advancing sustainable and potentially scalable approaches to improve the lives of people with heart disease.
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity will serve as the initiative's national program office. In that capacity, the center will provide technical assistance to grantees as they build local partnerships and implement programs. The national office’s responsibilities also include fostering peer-to-peer learning among grantees, conducting a cross-site evaluation and sharing results and lessons learned.
“Bringing together these outstanding organizations to strengthen local partnerships and address the social and environmental factors that influence health will not only meet immediate patient need but also pave the way for sustained improvements in the delivery of cardiac care across the U.S.,” Lisa Cooper, M.D., director of the national program office, said in the announcement.
The Merck Foundation unveiled the initiative three years after creating a similar program in oncology. Through that program, the foundation is providing $20 million to support projects focused on improving access to cancer care in seven states.
Merck established the foundation in 1957. Funded entirely by the pharma, the charitable organization has contributed more than $1 billion to support initiatives that are consistent with the drugmaker’s purpose. While the foundation is run separately from the pharma company, there are overlaps in their areas of focus: Cancer and cardiovascular disease, for example, are both among Merck’s main therapeutic areas.