MSD Pharmaceuticals supports Smile Foundation to launch three Smile on Wheels mobile medical units in Uttar Pradesh
- Three Smile on Wheels Mobile Medical Units will be launched in Balrampur, Chandauli
and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh - These will provide access to quality primary healthcare services for the underprivileged
Lucknow, July 13, 2022: MSD Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck Sharp & Dohme (k nown as Merck & Co., Inc. in the United States and Canada) and Smile Foundation today announced the launch of three Smile on Wheels Mobile Medical Units in the districts of Balrampur, Chandauli and Varanasi in Uttar Pr adesh.
Shri Brajesh Pathak, Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, flagged off the mobile healthcare units today in Lu ck now. Smile on Wheels is a national-level mobile healthcare programme focused on serving underprivileged children and families. Through the partnership, MSD Pharmaceuticals will fund three Smile on Wheels mobile medical units, that will provide primary healthcare services for underprivileged citizens in and around the three districts of Uttar Pradesh, under its CSR programme in India.
“It gives me immense joy to flag-off these mobile medical units, which will support the healthcare accessibility measures in Uttar Pradesh,” said Shri Brajesh Pathak, Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister of Uttar Pr adesh. “The Government of Uttar Pradesh continues to dedicate itself to improve accessibility to healthcare in the state and such complementary efforts deserve accolades,” Mr Pathak added.
Mr. Rehan A. Khan, Managing Director, MSD Pharmaceuticals, India Region said:“At MSD we are passionate ab out providing access to quality healthcare and improving lives in India. We are actively building sustainable pa rtnerships to fulfil the unmet medical needs in our country. Our partnership with Smile Foundation to launch ‘Smile on Wheels’ mobile medical units in Uttar Pradesh strengthens and supports capacity building for health care delivery to the most remote areas of the country,” he added.
The programme aims to address the primary healthcare needs of 10 lakh people in Uttar Pradesh. The primary care services would be provided through enhanced technologies at doorstep, thereby sharing the load of Gov ernment health facilities and delivery of quality healthcare.
“We are delighted to be able to provide access to primary healt hcare services to those who need it badly but cannot access it,” said Vikram Singh Verma, Executive Director, Smile Foundation. “We are grateful to MSD Ph armaceuticals for their support to the Smile on Wheels initiative and look forward to continuing to work with them to provide primary healthcare services to the commun ity,” he added.
The Smile on Wheels programme sends well-equipped mobile med icalunits, along with specialized doctors, nurses, medical staff, and medicines to villages and underserved communities to provide crucial access to he althcare services. The objecti ve of the programme is to ensure improved healthcare services reach the doors teps of people residing in unser ved or underserved areas. Smile on Wheels provides free healthcare services to more than 1.5 million children and families every year across India.
About MSD Pharmaceuticals
For 130 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 popul ation health by increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programmes, and partnerships. To day, MSD continues to be at the forefront of research to prevent and treat diseases that threaten people and an imals — including cancer, infectious diseases such as HIV and Ebola, and emerging animal diseases — as we as pire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company in the world. For more information, vis it www.msd.com and connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
About Smile Foundation
Smile Foundation is an Indian development organization directly benefiting over 1.5 million children and fami lies every year through more than 400 welfare projects on education, healthcare, livelihood, and women em powerment spread across 2,000 villages and slums in 25 states.
