Merck to Give $500-Million to Boost Maternal Health

By Caroline Preston

New York

Merck, the pharmaceutical giant, announced last month that it will spend $500-million over the next decade to reduce the number of women who die during pregnancy and childbirth. The announcement was one of several high-profile pledges made at the United Nations General Assembly and Clinton Global Initiative meetings, held here every September.

Geralyn Ritter, president of the Merck Company Foundation, told The Chronicle that some of that money would be in the form of cash