Merck's Consumer Health Business Presents New Purpose to Help Prepare Society for 100 Healthy Years

DARMSTADT, Germany, Sept. 13, 2016 /CNW/ -

• "WE100" movement will promote activities to prepare society for 100 healthy years across generations

Merck, a leading science and technology company, revealed the new purpose "Prepare society for a new era of humans living 100 healthy years" for its Consumer Health business. The purpose will be brought to life through the movement "WE100^®" aimed at raising awareness of healthy living, all the way from children's age to 100 years. The WE100 movement with its motto "Young for old. Old for young." will also coordinate concrete actions to help prepare society for humans living 100 healthy years.

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The new purpose of the Consumer Health business of Merck has been presented along with the WE100 movement by Uta Kemmerich-Keil, President and CEO of the Consumer Health Business, who commented "Our main objective is to change perceptions of society and take concrete action to articulate the next steps on our journey toward 100 healthy years. This initiative is equally aimed at the younger population, which needs to be educated now about the right approach to healthy ageing." Kemmerich-Keil added "We decided to launch a new purpose and WE100 as a neutral movement so that everybody sharing the goal of preparing society to live 100 healthy years could join," Kemmerich-Keil concluded.

The WE100 movement was also recently presented at Cannes Creativity Festival by Atilla Cansun, Chief Marketing Officer of the Consumer Health business of Merck, who explained "We believe age does not influence how much one has to offer. Our first step will be to eliminate the barriers preventing the older generation to be fully involved and integrated in society. We want to set the bar high and we welcome anyone sharing our goal to prepare society for humans living 100 healthy years to join us as the WE100 movement develops."

As life expectancy continues to increase dramatically across the world since 1945, surveys show that society is not yet prepared for the prospect of humans living 100 years.^[1] According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the world's population over 60 years will nearly double from 12% to 22% by 2050.

As a first step of the WE100 movement, the Consumer Health business of Merck conducted a survey on ageing and the perception of ageing across society, which showed that 80% of interviewees think that society needs to dramatically change its perception and attitude towards ageing. The survey also showed that 95% of interviewees believe governments are not taking a proactive role in findings solutions to trigger greater involvement in the society after retirement. In addition, 80% of those interviewed think they have lower chances to find jobs at age 50+ versus younger generations. Finally, when asked whether children are prepared to live 100 healthy years, 93% of survey respondents say current education is falling short of providing the necessary information to prepare children early on to live a long healthy life.

As part of the WE100 movement pilots, activities in schools are planned in 2017 to help children prepare for healthy ageing. Finally, as of October 2016, WE100 will start working on establishing partnerships with public and private organizations around the theme of living 100 healthy years to involve relevant stakeholders in the movement.

About the Consumer Health business of Merck

Brands of the Consumer Health business, such as Neurobion^®, Bion^®, Nasivin^®, Seven Seas^®, Dolo-Neurobion^®, and Femibion^® are innovative leaders in key markets, backed by science and trusted by consumers worldwide. The Consumer Health business is with over 3,700 employees globally active in over 40 markets. The portfolio comprises of brands with annual total sales of about $ 1 billion. Consumer Health is a business of the Healthcare business sector within the Merck Group with global headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany.

For more information please go to http://www.merck-consumer-health.com or https://twitter.com/merck_ch .

1. Omnibus Daily for Merck group Ageing Survey among 2344 participants

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About Merck

Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life - from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2015, Merck generated sales of € 12.85 billion in 66 countries.

Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck, Darmstadt, Germany holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.

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SOURCE Merck

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