Carter Center Eye of the Eagle | Summer 2020

EYEof theEAGLE Carter Center Director Frank Richards Steps Back Volume 21, Number 2 In a move toward semiretirement, Dr. launch the Carter Center’s river blindness Frank Richards Jr. stepped down June 1 as program. Richards later launched the Center’s Summer 2020 director of the Carter Center’s river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis, and lymphatic filariasis, and schistosomiasis pro- malaria programs. 2 grams. He had held the position for 15 years. “Jimmy Carter has been my hero since Successes Give Trachoma Richards has been involved with the I voted for him in his winning campaign for Program Momentum for 2020 global fight to eliminate river blindness the U.S. presidency during my second year in (onchocerciasis) since Merck & Co., Inc.’s medical school,” Richards said. “I was honored 3 1987 announcement of the donation of iver- when the Center’s river blindness program mectin (Mectizan®) for the campaign. During was mentioned in President Carter’s 2002 Trachoma Control his five years at a Centers for Disease Control Nobel Peace Prize citation. In his Nobel Prize Program Conducts Virtual (CDC) and Prevention research station acceptance speech, President Carter identified in Guatemala, he helped launch the first the growing chasm between the rich and the Program Review ivermectin mass drug administration there. poor as a fundamental global challenge; we He was seconded to The Carter Center from still struggle with this growing inequity today. 4 CDC in 1996 to help Dr. Donald Hopkins continues on page 8 New Partnership Treats 100,000 People in South Sudan The Carter Center/Emily Staub 5 COVID-19 Forces River Blindness Reviews to Go Virtual 8 Nigeria, Ethiopia LF Elimination Programs Reach Milestones 9 Starr Foundations Shine as Dependable Carter Center Partners 10 Alwaleed Philanthropies Supports Five Carter Center Initiatives 11 Global Partners Mark First World NTD Day Guinea Worm Disease Update Electronic To receive this newsletter via email only, please Frank Richards (right) works with colleagues Edition send a request to [email protected]. Abel Eigege (left) and Emmanuel Miri during a visit to Nigeria in 2004.

Trachoma Successes Give Trachoma Program Momentum for 2020 Based on the achievements of A sanitation worker and village chief discuss the construction of a latrine at the 2019, the elimination of trachoma chief’s home in the Zinder region of Niger. Last year, The Carter Center assisted as a public health problem seems to in the construction of more than 10,000 latrines in Niger and Mali. be closer to reality than ever before. Despite the current global uncertain- ties, The Carter Center remains positive and hopeful about achieving measurable goals in each of its partner countries in 2020. The Carter Center Trachoma Control Program assisted the ministries of health in Ethiopia, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Sudan to implement SAFE activities throughout 2019. The program supported approximately 22,500 corrective eyelid surgeries for trachomatous trichiasis (TT) in the five countries. These procedures immediately improve patients’ lives by preventing the pain and scarring An Ethiopian woman’s eyes are bandaged after caused by repeated trachoma 166 health districts in the Amhara Photos: Sam Phelps (top); Brent Stirton/Getty Images for ITI in collaboration with The Carter Center (bottom) she underwent surgery with the support of the infections. Over the course of region have reached the elimination Amhara Regional Health Bureau and The Carter 20 years (1999 to 2019), the threshold for active trachoma and are Center. Center has assisted national exempt from MDA. programs in providing nearly 850,000 TT surgeries. The Carter Center also supported ongoing health education activities Since 1999, The Carter as well as the promotion of latrine Center has also assisted in construction and use in nearly 6,000 the distribution of over 209 villages. Just over 10,000 latrines were million doses of azithromycin constructed in Mali and Niger. (Zithromax®), an effective trachoma-fighting antibiotic Insecurity affected SAFE interven- donated by Pfizer Inc. In tions in several countries in 2019, but 2019, about 14 million doses the Center continued activities as were distributed in Carter security permitted. In South Sudan, Center-assisted areas in the national program completed Ethiopia, South Sudan, and the first trachoma MDA in camps Sudan. In the Amhara region for internally displaced persons and of Ethiopia, 13,317,156 doses restarted surgical activities in two of azithromycin and 311,077 counties that had not conducted sur- doses of tetracycline ointment geries since 2016. In Mali, the program were distributed through mass continues to work toward the elimina- drug administration (MDA). tion of trachoma as a national public As of March 2020, 48 of health problem in 2020 and remains focused on completing all trachoma- related activities there. E 2

Trachoma Trachoma Control Program Conducts Virtual Program Review Every year, the Carter Center’s 76.9% were less than 5% TF at the these districts were surveyed again Trachoma Control Program gathers most recent survey. In contrast, among to determine whether elimination with its collaborators, donors, and sci- districts with greater than 30% TF at had been sustained. As of 2019, it entific partners for its annual program first survey, only 6.8% had reached less was reported that 31 of these districts review. The review provides a chance than 5% TF by 2019. Overall, as of (78%) had sustained trachoma to share successes, challenges, and sci- 2019, 48 districts (29%) in the region elimination. entific discoveries of the past year. In have reached the threshold for elimina- 2020, because of the COVID-19 pan- tion as a public health problem. These Amhara-focused presenta- demic, the review moved to an online tions suggest that although some forum for the first time. Four scientific Amhara has seen great, districts with persistently high tra- presentations were made during these sustainable reductions of choma remain, Amhara has seen great, virtual sessions. trachoma among children sustainable reductions of trachoma since the start of the program. among children since the start of the Scott Nash, epidemiologist with program. the Trachoma Control Program, Epidemiologist Tigist Astale reported on trends in trachoma over a delivered a presentation titled Harry Pickering, a postdoctoral 12-year period in Amhara, Ethiopia. “Surveillance: Special Focus Amhara,” fellow at the London School of Nash noted a strong relationship showing the results from districts in Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, pre- between the trachomatous inflamma- Ethiopia’s Amhara region that have sented findings from a project where tion-follicular (TF) prevalence observed achieved trachoma elimination and genomic sequencing was performed on at the first impact survey (conducted subsequently stopped receiving mass 99 ocular infection samples from chil- between 2010 and 2015) and eventual drug administration. After at least two dren in Amhara. Pickering reported achievement of TF elimination as years without antibiotic treatment, that the Chlamydia strands found in a public health problem threshold Amhara were similar to the Chlamydia of 5%. For example, of the districts found in other trachoma endemic with a first survey less than 10% TF, countries. Although all samples were taken from communities that have Photo: Daniel Getachew Community distribution of antibiotics, such as in the Amhara region of Ethiopia received five years of mass drug admin- (pictured), are part of the four-pronged approach to halt the spread of trachoma. istration, no markers of antibiotic resistance were detected. Kim Jensen, associate director, and Eshetu Sata, program officer, of the Carter Center’s Trachoma Control Program described the case-finding approach that has been used in the Amhara region. The program trains community members to act as case finders, going door to door looking for potential trachomatous trichiasis (TT) cases. Suspected cases are confirmed by an integrated eye care worker and offered surgery if appropriate. The World Health Organization Fourth Global Scientific Meeting endorsed using case-finding data as evidence that a district has achieved the TT elimi- nation threshold, so systematic case finding will be central to addressing TT surgery, Jensen and Sata said. E 3

Trachoma New Partnership Treats 100,000 People in South Sudan More than 100,000 people in South Sudan’s Eastern Children stand with a volunteer in February 2020 after Equatoria state received treatment for trachoma in early receiving Zithromax to fight trachoma in Budi County, 2020 as a new partnership made its debut. Eastern Equatoria state, South Sudan. The mass distribution of the antibiotic azithromycin (Zithromax®, donated by Pfizer Inc) was the first collabora- tion under an initial one-year partnership among the Carter Center Trachoma Control Program, the South Sudan Ministry of Health, and the World Health Organization’s Expanded Special Project for the Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases, known as ESPEN. The distribution was carried out in February and March in Budi and Lopa-Lafon counties with locally trained dis- tributors and county supervisors. The partnership agreement also covers three other counties. The flagship mission of ESPEN, established in 2016, is to accelerate the elimination of five neglected tropical diseases that together afflict over 600 million people across 26 African countries. Trachoma, the world’s leading cause of preventable infectious blindness, is one of the targeted diseases; annual treatment with Zithromax for entire communities is an essential step in preventing trachoma transmission among at-risk populations. The Carter Center and Ministry of Health distribution and health education teams in Budi and Lopa-Lafon coun- ties used a strategy that included centralized distribution locations such as watering points, markets and schools, and house-to-house visits. Many homes were in mountains and required distribution teams to hike several hours to reach a single household. Additionally, there were nomadic cattle keepers whose treatment required teams to travel several hours and sleep overnight in the bush. Despite these Through the partnership, local drug distributors were trained in Lopa- challenges, the distributors, local supervisors, Photos: The Carter Center Lafon County, Eastern Equatoria state, South Sudan, in March 2020. and village chiefs were dedicated and ensured every person was reached. ESPEN aims to increase the geographi- cal coverage of distributions while decreasing the number of people requiring treatment. Promoting healthier populations and achieving universal health coverage are long-term goals, and through collaborations with neglected tropical disease partners sharing parallel goals — including The Carter Center — these larger targets become achievable. E 4

River Blindness COVID-19 Forces River Blindness, Other Reviews to Go Virtual The 2019 River Blindness Ecuador, Guatemala, and Mexico, the The meetings also reviewed Carter Elimination Program Review latter four of which have eliminated Center-assisted MDA activities for was canceled due to the COVID-19 onchocerciasis. three other neglected tropical disease pandemic that severely impacted travel efforts. The lymphatic filariasis (LF) between the Unites States and Carter In 2019, The Carter Center was a elimination programs in Ethiopia and Center-assisted countries. An abbrevi- partner in the delivery of 41,608,910 Nigeria reported 18,914,001 treatments, ated virtual program review was held for Mectizan® treatments (donated by 87% of the target. Approximately Carter Center-assisted African programs Merck & Co., Inc.) through mass 117,000 treatments were stopped in March 19–20, 2020, to assess the 2019 drug administration (MDA) programs, Ethiopia after successful transmis- achievements, challenges, and opera- reaching 77% of the 2019 target. The sion assessment surveys. Albendazole tional research. majority of these treatments were pro- (donated by GSK) is administered vided twice per year. Just over 600,000 concurrently with Mectizan for LF Since 1996, the Carter Center’s treatments were halted in Uganda treatments. Nigeria’s schistosomiasis river blindness program has worked after stop-MDA assessments were and soil-transmitted helminthiasis with ministries of health to provide pre- conducted in accordance with World control programs reported 2,390,729 ventive medication for river blindness, Health Organization guidelines. The and 5,808,340 treatments, for 46% and also known as onchocerciasis, together program’s cumulative treatments since 61% of the targets, respectively. with health education, training, and 1996 have reached 425 million. The evaluation of impact. The program cur- River Blindness Elimination Program The River Blindness Elimination rently assists Brazil, Ethiopia, Nigeria, has set a 2020 target to assist 65 million Program and associated programs Sudan, Uganda, and Venezuela, treatments, of which 86% will be assisted in 69 million treatments for and previously assisted Colombia, administered twice per year. continues on page 6 35,000,000 Ethiopia 30,000,000 Nigeria 25,000,000 20,000,000 Uganda 15,000,000 Latin America 10,000,000 Sudan 5,000,000 0 Figure 1. Carter Center–Assisted River Blindness Elimination Program: 1996–2019 Mectizan® Treatments by Country or Region 5

River Blindness Country Elimination continued, identifying several new and the Sudan program will collaborate areas of potential transmission. The with Ethiopia in order to map them Continued from page 5 treatment goals for 2020 are about if the security situation allows. If new 24 million for river blindness and endemic areas are found, the two neglected tropical diseases in 2019, about 1.1 million for LF. The Carter programs pledged to collaborate to with a target of 104 million for 2020. Center’s work in Ethiopia is based on eliminate onchocerciasis there. See Figures 1 and 2 for treatments by partnerships with the Federal Ministry country and disease, respectively, since of Health, the Lions Clubs of Ethiopia Nigeria 1996. Cumulative treatments for the and the Lions-Carter Center SightFirst The Carter Center currently assists four diseases now exceed 640 million. Initiative, and the Reaching the Last river blindness and lymphatic filariasis Mile Fund hosted by the END Fund. treatments in seven southern states in These accomplishments would not Nigeria; Plateau and Nasarawa states have been possible without ministry Sudan in central Nigeria stopped MDA for of health partners and a grassroots During 2019, 45,000 treatments were lymphatic filariasis and river blind- network of community-directed drug provided in Radom, South Darfur. ness in 2013 and 2018, respectively. distributors and community supervi- along with 25,300 treatments among Unfortunately, Nigeria’s river blindness sors who volunteered their time to refugees. Although there were plans program only assisted in 17,371,767 treat their communities. A combined to establish mass treatment activities Mectizan treatments for river blindness 363,851 community drug distributors in Wadi Elahi and Geissan districts in 2019, a 39% decrease from 2018 participated in 2019, all of whom were of Blue Nile state bordering Ethiopia, and only about 74% of the target, managed by district-level ministry of activities in 2019 were not possible due to ivermectin importation delays health personnel and trained with the due to security concerns and a cholera that precluded the first round of the assistance of The Carter Center. outbreak. Carter Center peacebuilding twice-per-year treatment regimen. The initiatives took place in Blue Nile in Nigeria lymphatic filariasis program Ethiopia 2019; despite progress in negotiations, assisted in 18,046,756 treatments in Ethiopia’s policy for onchocerciasis security was insufficient to allow for 2019, reaching 85% of the target. The transmission elimination is twice-per- onchocerciasis MDA activities. There 2020 targets for river blindness and year MDA. In 2019, Ethiopia delivered are potential cross-border transmission lymphatic filariasis are 37 million and 20,411,745 Mectizan treatments. Over areas on Sudan’s border with Ethiopia, 21 million, respectively. 260,000 community drug distributors were trained in 2019. Mapping efforts 60,000,000 50,000,000 40,000,000 RB 30,000,000 41,608,910 20,000,000 LF 18,914,001 10,000,000 STH 5,808,340 SCH 0 2,390,729 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Figure 2. Carter Center–Assisted River Blindness (RB), Lymphatic Filariasis (LF), Soil Transmitted Helminths (STH ), and Schistosomiasis (SCH) Programs: 1996–2019 6

River Blindness The Carter Center assisted in Living in the remote Amazon Rainforest along the Venezuela and Brazil border, 2,390,729 praziquantel treatments for members of the indigenous Yanomami population are the last people in the schistosomiasis in nine states in 2019. Western Hemisphere at risk of river blindness. The schistosomiasis program follows Photo: CAICET/Oscar Noya Alarcón WHO guidelines that target some target is 2.8 million treatments, which Area after the indigenous people resid- areas only every other year or every will take place in Lhubiriha and the ing there. The challenge with this focus three years, and 2019 was a high-target large Madi-Mid North focus bordering lies in the remoteness of its population, year with a 69% increase from 2018. South Sudan. Progress is being made the lack of high-level coordination However, the Carter Center programs in coordinated cross-border assessment between Brazil and Venezuela, and reached less than half of their targets activities with all three countries. The especially the deteriorating political for 2019 due to importation delays Uganda program received support from situation in Venezuela. In 2019, OEPA that affected praziquantel supply. USAID/Act to End NTDs–East, led by assisted Brazil and Venezuela in about The target for 2020 is 6 million treat- RTI International. 55,000 Mectizan treatments. Despite ments. Praziquantel is donated to The the political, humanitarian, and health Carter Center through the WHO by Onchocerciasis Elimination crises of Venezuela, Venezuelan teams Merck KGaA of Germany. The Izumi Program for the Americas (OEPA) supported by The Carter Center were Foundation also supported this program OEPA is a coalition led by The Carter able to provide ivermectin MDA as in 2019. Center that includes the ministries of well as vaccinations, malaria treat- health of the affected countries in the ments, and other health services. Some Treatments in 2019 for soil- Americas, the Pan-American Health of the Yanomami people from the transmitted helminths were 5,808,340, Organization/WHO, and other part- endemic communities of both Brazil and the 2020 target is 11 million ners. The OEPA initiative has stopped and Venezuela serve as indigenous treatments. The medicines used treatments in 94% of the population health agents and are proving vital to for treatment are donated by GSK once endemic for river blindness, and the program to provide health services (albendazole) and Johnson & Johnson four countries have received WHO in this challenging area. OEPA received (mebendazole). verification of elimination. The last financial support from USAID, Merck active transmission zone is in the & Co., Inc., Lions Club International The neglected tropical disease Amazon Rainforest bordering Brazil and Foundation, and the Carlos Slim programs in Nigeria were supported in Venezuela, named the Yanomami Focus Foundation in 2019. E large part by the ENVISION and Act to End NTDs–East projects (sponsored by USAID and RTI International). Uganda The Uganda program halted over 600,000 MDA treatments in the Nyagak-Bondo focus in 2019. Also, the Uganda Onchocerciasis Elimination Expert Advisory Committee deter- mined that the large Madi-Mid North focus was suspected to have interrupted transmission. That leaves Lhubiriha as the last focus of the original 17 foci in the country to have ongoing transmis- sion. Lhubiriha is a cross-border focus shared with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which was fighting an Ebola outbreak in the area in 2019. Uganda administered 3.7 million Mectizan treatments in 2019, all under the twice-per-year strategy. For 2020, the 7

River Blindness Frank Richards Richards will remain Continued from page 1 chair of the Carter Helping the poorest of the poor avoid Center’s Onchocerciasis easily preventable infectious diseases has been the focus of my career contri- Elimination Program for bution to public health.” the Americas (OEPA) The Carter Center programs Richards directed have assisted min- steering committee. The istries of health to deliver over 500 million treatments in 11 countries OEPA program assisted in Africa and the Americas. The Carter Center’s malaria program the only four countries in helped deliver more than 18 million long-lasting insecticidal bed nets in the world — Colombia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Hispaniola. The programs work in collaboration with Ecuador, Mexico, 355,000 community volunteer health workers. and Guatemala — to Richards has authored or co- obtain World Health authored over 200 articles, letters, and chapters. His awards include Organization (WHO) In high school, Frank Richards (far left) played guitar the Williams College Bicentennial verification of elimina- in a band called The Revolution (not to be confused Medal, the National Medical tion of river blindness with Prince’s band of the same name), complete with Fellowships Pioneer Award, the transmission. In addi- tight white breeches and tricorn hats. Outstanding Service Medal of the tion to those countries, U.S. Public Health Service, and the U.S. Department of Health and The Carter Center has 33 years to Sherri Poindexter Richards Human Services’ Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service. assisted ministries of health to inter- and has two adult daughters. While rupt transmission of river blindness he looks forward to further work with and safely halt ivermectin-based MDA Carter Center health programs, he’s for over 7 million people in Uganda, eager to have more time for his other Ethiopia, and Nigeria. The Center’s LF interests, including antique cars, scuba programs in Nigeria and Ethiopia have diving, photography, and playing safely ended over 8 million treatments. the guitar. Richards also chairs the WHO Global Gregory Noland, Ph.D., M.P.H., Malaria Program’s Malaria Elimination succeeds Richards as director of the Oversight Committee and sits on three Carter Center disease programs. several research committees. He joined The Carter Center as a Richards has been married for program epidemiologist in 2011. E Nigeria, Ethiopia LF Elimination Programs Reach Milestones Elimination of the debilitating Center have made remarkable progress districts passed their second TAS Photo: Courtesy Frank Richards disease lymphatic filariasis (LF) in combating LF. The most prominent in 2019. They were joined by three requires at least two years of mass examples are Nasarawa and Plateau districts in Gambella region — the first drug administration (MDA). If treat- states in central Nigeria, which com- in Ethiopia to begin LF MDA about ment coverage is good and small-scale pleted their TAS-3s in 2016. Over 10 years earlier — and another 117,000 evaluations are promising, with very 7 million people are now safe from treatments are no longer needed. This few people testing positive, an area can LF — but more than 25 million in means over half a million Ethiopians, move to a sequence of transmission southern Nigeria are still at risk. about one quarter of the total program, assessment surveys (TAS). TAS looks are on their way to successfully elimi- for evidence of LF infection in 6- and Ethiopia has a much smaller yet nating LF as a public health problem. 7-year-old children. Once an area passes still impressive LF program. The Carter its first TAS, it can stop treatment. Center’s assistance in the Ethiopian LF Both countries are developing After three successful surveys (separated program helps over 2 million people at morbidity management and disability by two to three years), a country can risk. In 2017, two districts in Amhara prevention programs to identify and declare that area free of LF. region became the first in the country assist people who still suffer from LF to pass TAS-1, and more than 431,000 symptoms, such as swollen limbs or Programs supported by The Carter treatments were stopped. These scrotal hydrocele. E 8

Global Health News Starr Foundations Shine as Dependable Carter Center Partners Established in 1955, The Starr Over the last two Foundation, the sister organization to the Starr International Foundation, decades, both Starr has positioned itself as a leading phil- anthropic organization in health care, entities have pro- education, and public policy. The Starr and Starr International Foundations’ vided core support health care grants are varied, including capital grants to hospitals, research to the Center’s grants, and grants to assist in the provision of health care to underserved global health work communities in New York City and overseas. Since its establishment, The and direct support Starr Foundation has grown to become one of the largest private foundations to the Center’s in the United States, having exceeded $3.6 billion in grants worldwide to Onchocerciasis many academic, medical, cultural and public policy organizations around Elimination the world. Program for the Since 1993, both the Starr Foundations have been steadfast advo- Americas, the cates of the Center’s efforts to fight neglected tropical diseases worldwide. Malaria Control Program in Nigeria, and the In Marabe 2, Chad, Dr. Hubert Zirimwabagabo of The Carter Guinea Worm Center speaks with a women’s group about how to prevent Eradication Guinea worm disease. The Starr Foundations recently provided a Program. $100,000 grant to the Center’s Guinea Worm Eradication Program. For the past 34 years, the Center has dedicated its Foundation and Starr International efforts to disease eradication, elimina- Foundation, The Carter Center tion, and control, while improving the continues to build health and hope in lives of millions worldwide. Thanks to some of the poorest and most isolated the generosity of donors like The Starr places on earth. Most recently, Starr International Foundation provided a 2020 grant of $100,000 to the Center’s Guinea Worm Eradication Program through 2021. This generous support is matched by the Carter Center’s Challenge Fund for Guinea Worm Eradication. The $20 million Challenge Fund is designed to lever- age new gifts to the Guinea Worm Eradication Program over a two-year period. Strong supporters of the Center’s health work, like The Starr Photos: Jane Hahn (top); Tom Saater (bottom) Foundation and Starr International Foundation, allow the Center to fight disease and foster hope for generations to come. E The Starr Foundation and the Starr International Foundation support the Carter Center’s battle against neglected tropical diseases, allowing the Center to improve the quality of life of millions in some of the world’s poorest and most remote regions. Residents of Amper, Nigeria, such as the Luka family (pictured), receive annual medication to help target multiple diseases simultaneously. 9

Global Health News Alwaleed Philanthropies Supports Five Carter Center Initiatives The Carter Center’s partnerships health and peace programs. Alwaleed In 2019, Her Royal Highness in the Middle East have spanned Philanthropies’ support has enabled Princess Lamia Bint Majed Al Saud, decades and made a considerable the Center to eliminate river blindness Alwaleed Philanthropies secretary- impact on neglected tropical diseases transmission in Colombia (2013), general, announced a $1 million worldwide. The Center currently part- Ecuador (2014), Mexico (2015), and investment to the Center’s Guinea ners with an array of Middle Eastern Guatemala (2016), leaving only 1% Worm Eradication Program, bringing governments, organizations, corpora- of global river blindness cases remain- the foundation’s cumulative support tions, and members of royal families ing in Latin America. This success to over $6 million. Without the to support its initiatives aimed at con- in Latin America demonstrated that unwavering support of its partners like trolling, eliminating, and eradicating disease transmission elimination is pos- Alwaleed Philanthropies, the Center Guinea worm disease, lymphatic fila- sible in regions of Africa, where river would not be able to target these pre- riasis, river blindness, and trachoma, as blindness was long thought to be too ventable neglected diseases worldwide. well as combating the stigma of mental prevalent to tackle. illness. Founded by His Royal Highness Alwaleed Philanthropies’ support Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Alaziz Since 2003, Alwaleed of the Trachoma Control Program in Al Saud, Alwaleed Philanthropies Philanthropies, based in Saudi Ethiopia began in 2016. From 2016- encourages and supports organizations, Arabia, has supported the River 2019, the program in Ethiopia’s large studies, and academic centers focus- Blindness Elimination Program’s Amhara region has performed over ing on empowering Saudi women, efforts in Ethiopia and Uganda, the 252,000 sight-saving surgeries and dis- alleviating poverty, upgrading services Onchocerciasis Elimination Program in tributed more than 57 million doses of provided to the Saudi population, and the Americas, the Trachoma Control Zithromax®, a Pfizer-donated antibiotic other social infrastructure issues that Program in Ethiopia, and other that prevents trachoma infection. face the country. Prince Alwaleed is an avid supporter of peace and health Pictured from left to right: Former Director of the River Blindness Elimination Program on a global scale through his charitable Photo: The Carter Center Frank Richards, Carter Center Trustee Terry Adamson, Minister of Health Mahamoud and humanitarian foundations. Youssouf Khayal of Chad, His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, and Director of the Guinea Worm Eradication Program Adam Weiss in November 2019. The Carter Center celebrates its partnership with Alwaleed Philanthropies and its other dedicated allies in the Middle East. Alwaleed Philanthropies shares the Center’s ded- ication to improving health conditions worldwide and empowering people in developing countries to create solutions for a brighter future. We are proud to work together to better the lives of millions. E 10

Global Health News Global Partners Mark First World NTD Day Jan. 30 marked the inaugural World mobilize greater NTD Day, created to celebrate the sig- attention to nificant progress made against neglected important issues, tropical diseases and the hard work of specifically in all global health workers throughout the countries and the year. communities most When the London Declaration directly affected on NTDs was issued in 2012, several by NTDs. pharmaceutical companies, research Around the institutions, nongovernmental organiza- world, 98 activi- During the Beat NTDs: World NTD Day Symposium in tions, governments, and other global ties were held to Atlanta on Jan. 30, panelists discuss progress in global health stakeholders endorsed the World commemorate health. From left to right: Najwa Sampson, ITI — Task Force Health Organization’s NTD Roadmap the occasion. for Global Health; Upendo John Mwingira, RTI International; for Implementation and committed In Atlanta, the Kelly Callahan, The Carter Center; and moderator Jim to control, eliminate or eradicate 10 Beat NTDs: Burress, WABE Radio. of these diseases by 2020. Together, World NTD these diseases affect more than a billion Day Symposium highlighted the city’s with the Task Force for Global Health. people worldwide. importance as a hub for the global The event was moderated by Atlanta Eight years later, the first World public health community. The event public radio host Jim Burress. NTD Day offered an opportunity to featured a panel discussion with Kelly The panelists talked candidly about Callahan, director of their experiences as women working in the Carter Center’s the field, the many years of partnership Trachoma Control with the ministries of health and the Program; Upendo communities they serve, their passion John Mwingira, and dedication to eliminating NTDs, senior NTD techni- and their gratitude for frontline com- cal advisor with RTI munity health workers. International; and Together with more than 350 Najwa Sampson, partners around the globe, The Carter logistics coordinator Center was happy to participate in this TofrathcheoImntaerInn0aittiiao5tnivale10 1s5pec2i0al e2v5en3t0. E35 40 The audience participates in the Beat NTDs: World NTD Day Symposium in Atlanta on Jan. 30. Chad 38 Guinea Worm Disease Update Ethiopia 0 Mali 0 South Sudan 1 January–July 2019 JanuaryA–nJguolyla 20120* Number of Human Cases Number of Human Cases 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Chad 38 Chad 9 Ethiopia 0 Photos: Task Force for Global Health Ethiopia 7 Mali 0 South Sudan 1 Mali 1 Angola 1 South Sudan 1 Angola 1 *Provisional 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Chad 9 11 Ethiopia 7 Mali 1

The Carter Center One Copenhill 453 Freedom Parkway Atlanta, GA 30307 This issue is made possible in part thanks to the Michael G. DeGroote Health Program Publications Fund. For more information about The Carter Center and its health and peace programs, visit our website at www.cartercenter.org.