Mali has become the 17th country to receive the World Health Organization’s validation of the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem. ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ, Helen Keller Intl, and Sightsavers are proud to have worked together in partnership to support the government of Mali in their fight against trachoma. This decade old partnership was made possible through the support of Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. Learn more »
Dr. Donald R. Hopkins, the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s special advisor for Guinea worm eradication, received an honorary Doctor of Sciences degree Wednesday from the American Museum of Natural History’s Richard Gilder Graduate School. Learn more »
The third annual World NTD Day is Jan. 30, 2022, highlighting the global commitment to ending neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), which cause immeasurable suffering among the world’s most marginalized communities. On Sunday, more than 100 landmarks in over 30 nations will light up to celebrate progress and ensure NTDs remain a global priority. Learn more »
As part of its continued focus on the global fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), the Noor Dubai Foundation renews its partnership with ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ to wipe out trachoma, the leading infectious cause of blindness. Since 2013, the two organizations have assisted Ethiopia in the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in 29% of the Amhara region, known to be the most trachoma-endemic location in the world. Learn more »
ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ this month will conduct a nationwide survey of Sudanese youth’s attitudes and perceptions of the ongoing political transition and plans to publicly share its findings in early 2021. Learn more »
ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Chief Executive Officer Ambassador (ret.) Mary Ann Peters will visit Sudan Nov. 18 and 19 to explore ways ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ can contribute to durable peace and advance efforts to control or eliminate neglected tropical diseases, particularly river blindness and trachoma. Learn more »
ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ congratulates its longtime partner Ghana, which has become the first sub-Saharan African country to be validated by the World Health Organization (WHO) for eliminating the eye disease trachoma as a public health problem. Learn more »
The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has awarded ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ a grant of US$800,000 to help support an initiative to eliminate blinding trachoma in Mali and Niger. Learn more »
Efforts to eliminate blinding trachoma as a public health problem in the West African nations of Mali and Niger will receive US$11.725 million in additional support from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, to be implemented by ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ, Helen Keller International, and Sightsavers, the organizations announced Wednesday. Learn more »
The health programs of ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ have surpassed a major milestone: The organization on Nov. 4 celebrated assisting with the distribution of 500 million doses of donated medication to combat five neglected tropical diseases in 14 countries in Africa and Latin America. Learn more »
ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ and Noor Dubai Foundation have announced a new four-year partnership to accelerate efforts to eliminate blinding trachoma in Ethiopia by 2020. Ethiopia has the highest known burden of trachoma in the world, with an estimated minimum of 67 million Ethiopians at risk of disease. Learn more »
Dean G. Sienko, M.D., M.S., has been appointed vice president for health programs at ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ, effective June 2016. Learn more »
During a ceremony held at the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ's headquarters on May 15, 2014, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Lions Clubs International Foundation Chairperson Wayne Madden announced a US $8.8 million expansion of the Lions-ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ SightFirst Initiative to end suffering from major causes of preventable blindness in Ethiopia, Uganda, Mali, and Niger. Learn more »
ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ announces today the appointment of Ms. Kelly Callahan, M.P.H., as the director of the Center's Trachoma Control Program, effective April 14, 2014. Learn more »
ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ's long-standing support for the people of Sudan will continue through activities to advance peace, democracy, and health. ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ's Health Program office continues to operate as it undertakes health promotion and disease prevention projects. Learn more »
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter joined Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) today to commemorate the 15th Anniversary of the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI), an independent, not-for-profit program dedicated to the elimination of blinding trachoma as a public health concern. Learn more »
After 13 years training more than 26,000 public health workers to help fill the gap in rural health services for 75 million Ethiopians, ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ- assisted Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative (EPHTI) officially has been transferred to Ethiopia's Federal Ministries of Health and Education. Established in 1997 at the invitation of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, EPHTI worked in partnership with seven Ethiopian universities and the Ethiopian government to improve the public health education system. Learn more »
The largest single event in trachoma control history is underway. This week, the Lions-ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ SightFirst project, the Amhara National Regional State Health Bureau, and the International Trachoma Initiative will provide Pfizer-donated antibiotic treatment to 10 million Ethiopians at risk for blinding trachoma. Learn more »
In the dusty and remote village of Molujore, Terekeka County, Southern Sudan, food shortages are common, insecurity lingers, and survival is a daily struggle. Yet, important progress is being made in the effort to wipe out Guinea worm disease, resulting in the community being singled out for a visit from former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Central Equatoria State Governor Clement Wani Konga, and Commissioner Clement Maring Samuel today to urge intensification of efforts to wipe out the waterborne parasitic infection during the next transmission season beginning in April. Learn more »
The MalTra campaigns are a huge joint undertaking between the Amhara National Regional State (ANRS) and Lions-ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Sightfirst Initiative held twice a year to tackle two of the major scourges of humanity in Amhara region: malaria and trachoma. Learn more »
Ethiopia's devastating child mortality rates—which are among the highest in the world—could be significantly decreased as a result of treatment to control the nonfatal eye disease trachoma, suggests new research published in the Sept. 2, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association by the University of California at San Francisco and ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ, in partnership with the Ethiopia Ministry of Health. Learn more »
At a meeting of the World Health Organization's (WHO) global partnership on eye disease — the Alliance for the Global Elimination of Blinding Trachoma by the Year 2020 (GET 2020) — Ghana, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia reported that they have reached the goal for eliminating blinding trachoma. Each country has also strengthened its health care system so it can deliver eye surgery for those in need. Learn more »
Health officials from 11 African countries have honored former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ for their "pioneering contributions to eradicating neglected tropical diseases in Africa." The leadership award was presented to ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ CEO Dr. John Hardman and Dr. Donald Hopkins, vice president of health programs, on April 22 in a Washington, D.C., event sponsored by Global Health Progress and ONE. Learn more »
The burden of trachoma in Ayod county, one of the most severe ever documented, is a crucial threat to public health in Jonglei state, Southern Sudan according to a recently conducted survey. These alarming results, published today in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, were uncovered through a collaborative survey between ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ, University of Cambridge, and health officials from the government of Southern Sudan. Learn more »
Today a group led by Lions Clubs International Foundation Chairperson Jimmy Ross witnessed a historic moment in trachoma control when the 10 millionth dose of azithromycin (Zithromax®) was dispensed to a person in Awi Zone. Learn more »
Battling the dangerous void left by the migration of its skilled health professionals to other countries, Ethiopia, a country challenged by the grim realities of killer diseases, has proven it can build a sustainable health workforce to meet its unique health situation. Learn more »
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter participated in a live online chat June 28, 2007, to discuss malaria and the article "The Ethiopia Campaign - Jimmy Carter Takes on Malaria," featured in the June 2007 issue of Smithsonian magazine. Learn more »
ATLANTA…Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, with a delegation of senior-level ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ officials, concluded their two-week tour of Africa today. The Feb. 6-16 visit called international attention to health needs among impoverished communities in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Ghana. Learn more »
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter distributed long-lasting insecticide-impregnated bed nets today in Afeta, a community of 7,500 people in the Jimma zone. The symbolic action was part of the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ's new malaria control initiative in Ethiopia, the largest and most populous country in the Horn of Africa. Malaria is Ethiopia's single largest cause of death. Learn more »
On Thursday, Feb. 9, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Lions Clubs International President Jimmy Ross encouraged Sudan's local Lions Club to participate in the fight against two blinding diseases affecting the country—river blindness and trachoma. The appeal comes during President Carter's multi-country tour of Africa to promote health issues affecting Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Sudan. Learn more »
A remote Ethiopian village had cause for celebration today, as Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, senior officials from ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ, and Ethiopia Minister of Health Dr. Kebede Tadesse made a historic visit to commend the efforts of the Amhara Region to prevent trachoma, a painful and debilitating disease that causes blindness. Learn more »
Paul Emerson, Ph.D., joins ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ as technical director of its Trachoma Control Program, a program dedicated to prevention of unnecessary blindness caused by a bacterial infection. Learn more »
Atlanta, GA...ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ announced today that it has received the largest project-specific cash grants in its history - totaling nearly $30 million over the next ten years – from the Lions Clubs International Foundation and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. Learn more »
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