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EYEof theEAGLE Director Frank Richards Steps Back

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 director of the Carter Center’s river blindness, , , and lymphatic filariasis, and schistosomiasis pro- programs. grams. He had held the position for 15 years. “Jimmy Carter has been my hero since Volume 21, Number 2 Richards has been involved with the I voted for him in his winning campaign for Summer 2020 global fight to eliminate river blindness the U.S. presidency during my second year in () since Merck & Co., Inc.’s medical school,” Richards said. “I was honored 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 2 his five years at a Centers for Disease Control Nobel Peace Prize citation. In his Nobel Prize Successes Give Trachoma (CDC) and Prevention research station acceptance speech, President Carter identified Program Momentum for 2020 in Guatemala, he helped launch the first the growing chasm between the rich and the 3 ivermectin mass drug administration there. poor as a fundamental global challenge; we Trachoma Control He was seconded to The Carter Center from still struggle with this growing inequity today. Program Conducts Virtual Program Review CDC in 1996 to help Dr. Donald Hopkins continues on page 8 4 New Partnership Treats 100,000 People in South Sudan 5 COVID-19 Forces River Blindness Reviews to Go Virtual The Carter Center/Emily Staub 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

Frank Richards (right) works with colleagues Electronic To receive this newsletter via email only, please Abel Eigege (left) and Emmanuel Miri during a Edition send a request to [email protected]. visit to Nigeria in 2004. Trachoma

Successes Give Trachoma Program Momentum for 2020

Based on the achievements of 2019, the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem seems to 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 , Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Sudan to implement SAFE activities throughout 2019. The program supported approximately 22,500 corrective surgeries for trachomatous (TT) in the five countries. These procedures A worker and village chief discuss the construction of a latrine at the immediately improve patients’ lives chief’s home in the Zinder region of Niger. Last year, The Carter Center assisted in the construction of more than 10,000 latrines in Niger and Mali. by preventing the pain and scarring

caused by repeated trachoma 166 health districts in the Amhara infections. Over the course of region have reached the elimination 20 years (1999 to 2019), the threshold for active trachoma and are Center has assisted national exempt from MDA. programs in providing nearly The Carter Center also supported 850,000 TT surgeries. 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 constructed in Mali and Niger. (Zithromax®), an effective Insecurity affected SAFE interven- trachoma-fighting tions in several countries in 2019, but donated by Inc. In the Center continued activities as 2019, about 14 million doses security permitted. In South Sudan, were distributed in Carter the national program completed Center-assisted areas in the first trachoma MDA in camps Ethiopia, South Sudan, and for internally displaced persons and Sudan. In the Amhara region restarted surgical activities in two of Ethiopia, 13,317,156 doses counties that had not conducted sur- of azithromycin and 311,077 geries since 2016. In Mali, the program doses of ointment continues to work toward the elimina- were distributed through mass tion of trachoma as a national public An Ethiopian woman’s eyes are bandaged after drug administration (MDA). health problem in 2020 and remains she underwent surgery with the support of the As of March 2020, 48 of focused on completing all trachoma- Amhara Regional Health Bureau and The Carter Center. related activities there. E Photos: Sam Phelps (top); Brent Stirton/Getty Images for ITI in collaboration with The Carter Center (bottom) 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- These Amhara-focused presenta- 2020, because of the COVID-19 pan- tion as a public health problem. tions suggest that although some demic, the review moved to an online districts with persistently high tra- forum for the first time. Four scientific choma remain, Amhara has seen great, presentations were made during these Amhara has seen great, sustainable reductions of trachoma virtual sessions. sustainable reductions of among children since the start of the Scott Nash, epidemiologist with trachoma among children program. the Trachoma Control Program, since the start of the program. Harry Pickering, a postdoctoral reported on trends in trachoma over a fellow at the London School of 12-year period in Amhara, Ethiopia. Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, pre- Nash noted a strong relationship Epidemiologist Tigist Astale sented findings from a project where between the trachomatous inflamma- delivered a presentation titled genomic sequencing was performed on tion-follicular (TF) prevalence observed “Surveillance: Special Focus Amhara,” 99 ocular infection samples from chil- at the first impact survey (conducted showing the results from districts in dren in Amhara. Pickering reported between 2010 and 2015) and eventual Ethiopia’s Amhara region that have that the strands found in achievement of TF elimination as achieved trachoma elimination and Amhara were similar to the Chlamydia a public health problem threshold subsequently stopped receiving mass found in other trachoma endemic of 5%. For example, of the districts drug administration. After at least two countries. Although all samples were with a first survey less than 10% TF, years without antibiotic treatment, taken from communities that have received five years of mass drug admin- 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 Community distribution of , such as in the Amhara region of Ethiopia finding will be central to addressing TT (pictured), are part of the four-pronged approach to halt the spread of trachoma. surgery, Jensen and Sata said. E Photo: Daniel Getachew 3 Trachoma

New Partnership Treats 100,000 People in South Sudan

More than 100,000 people in South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria state received treatment for trachoma in early 2020 as a new partnership made its debut. 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 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 Children stand with a volunteer in February 2020 after cattle keepers whose treatment required teams to travel receiving Zithromax to fight trachoma in Budi County, several hours and sleep overnight in the bush. Despite these Eastern Equatoria state, South Sudan.

challenges, the distributors, local supervisors, 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 Through the partnership, local drug distributors were trained in Lopa- larger targets become achievable. E Lafon County, Eastern Equatoria state, South Sudan, in March 2020. Photos: The Carter Center 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 that severely impacted travel In 2019, The Carter Center was a efforts. The lymphatic filariasis (LF) between the Unites States and Carter partner in the delivery of 41,608,910 elimination programs in Ethiopia and Center-assisted countries. An abbrevi- Mectizan® treatments (donated by Nigeria reported 18,914,001 treatments, ated virtual program review was held for Merck & Co., Inc.) through mass 87% of the target. Approximately Carter Center-assisted African programs drug administration (MDA) programs, 117,000 treatments were stopped in March 19–20, 2020, to assess the 2019 reaching 77% of the 2019 target. The Ethiopia after successful transmis- achievements, challenges, and opera- majority of these treatments were pro- sion assessment surveys. Albendazole tional research. vided twice per year. Just over 600,000 (donated by GSK) is administered Since 1996, the Carter Center’s treatments were halted in Uganda concurrently with Mectizan for LF river blindness program has worked after stop-MDA assessments were treatments. Nigeria’s schistosomiasis with ministries of health to provide pre- conducted in accordance with World and soil-transmitted ventive for river blindness, Health Organization guidelines. The control programs reported 2,390,729 also known as onchocerciasis, together program’s cumulative treatments since and 5,808,340 treatments, for 46% and with health education, training, and 1996 have reached 425 million. The 61% of the targets, respectively. 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

30,000,000

25,000,000

20,000,000 Ethiopia

Nigeria 15,000,000

10,000,000

5,000,000 Uganda

Latin America 0 Sudan

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 Continued from page 5 areas of potential transmission. The with Ethiopia in order to map them treatment goals for 2020 are about if the security situation allows. If new neglected tropical diseases in 2019, 24 million for river blindness and endemic areas are found, the two with a target of 104 million for 2020. about 1.1 million for LF. The Carter programs pledged to collaborate to See Figures 1 and 2 for treatments by Center’s work in Ethiopia is based on eliminate onchocerciasis there. country and disease, respectively, since partnerships with the Federal Ministry 1996. Cumulative treatments for the of Health, the Lions Clubs of Ethiopia Nigeria four diseases now exceed 640 million. and the Lions-Carter Center SightFirst The Carter Center currently assists These accomplishments would not Initiative, and the Reaching the Last river blindness and lymphatic filariasis have been possible without ministry Mile Fund hosted by the END Fund. treatments in seven southern states in of health partners and a grassroots Nigeria; Plateau and Nasarawa states network of community-directed drug Sudan in central Nigeria stopped MDA for distributors and community supervi- During 2019, 45,000 treatments were lymphatic filariasis and river blind- sors who volunteered their time to provided in Radom, South Darfur. ness in 2013 and 2018, respectively. treat their communities. A combined along with 25,300 treatments among Unfortunately, Nigeria’s river blindness 363,851 community drug distributors refugees. Although there were plans program only assisted in 17,371,767 participated in 2019, all of whom were to establish mass treatment activities Mectizan treatments for river blindness managed by district-level ministry of in Wadi Elahi and Geissan districts in 2019, a 39% decrease from 2018 health personnel and trained with the of Blue Nile state bordering Ethiopia, and only about 74% of the target, assistance of The Carter Center. activities in 2019 were not possible due to ivermectin importation delays due to security concerns and a that precluded the first round of the Ethiopia outbreak. Carter Center peacebuilding twice-per-year treatment regimen. The Ethiopia’s policy for onchocerciasis initiatives took place in Blue Nile in Nigeria lymphatic filariasis program transmission elimination is twice-per- 2019; despite progress in negotiations, assisted in 18,046,756 treatments in year MDA. In 2019, Ethiopia delivered security was insufficient to allow for 2019, reaching 85% of the target. The 20,411,745 Mectizan treatments. Over onchocerciasis MDA activities. There 2020 targets for river blindness and 260,000 community drug distributors are potential cross-border transmission lymphatic filariasis are 37 million and were trained in 2019. Mapping efforts areas on Sudan’s border with Ethiopia, 21 million, respectively.

60,000,000

50,000,000

40,000,000 RB 41,608,910

30,000,000

LF 18,914,001 20,000,000

STH 10,000,000 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 2,390,729 praziquantel treatments for schistosomiasis in nine states in 2019. The schistosomiasis program follows WHO guidelines that target some areas only every other year or every three years, and 2019 was a high-target year with a 69% increase from 2018. However, the Carter Center programs reached less than half of their targets for 2019 due to importation delays that affected praziquantel supply. The target for 2020 is 6 million treat- ments. Praziquantel is donated to The Carter Center through the WHO by Merck KGaA of Germany. The Izumi Foundation also supported this program in 2019. Treatments in 2019 for soil- transmitted helminths were 5,808,340, and the 2020 target is 11 million Living in the remote Amazon Rainforest along the Venezuela and Brazil border, treatments. The medicines used members of the indigenous Yanomami population are the last people in the for treatment are donated by GSK Western Hemisphere at risk of river blindness. (albendazole) and Johnson & Johnson target is 2.8 million treatments, which Area after the indigenous people resid- (mebendazole). will take place in Lhubiriha and the ing there. The challenge with this focus The neglected tropical disease large Madi-Mid North focus bordering lies in the remoteness of its population, programs in Nigeria were supported in South Sudan. Progress is being made the lack of high-level coordination large part by the ENVISION and Act in coordinated cross-border assessment between Brazil and Venezuela, and to End NTDs–East projects (sponsored activities with all three countries. The especially the deteriorating political by USAID and RTI International). Uganda program received support from situation in Venezuela. In 2019, OEPA USAID/Act to End NTDs–East, led by assisted Brazil and Venezuela in about Uganda RTI International. 55,000 Mectizan treatments. Despite The Uganda program halted over the political, humanitarian, and health 600,000 MDA treatments in the Onchocerciasis Elimination crises of Venezuela, Venezuelan teams Nyagak-Bondo focus in 2019. Also, the Program for the Americas (OEPA) supported by The Carter Center were Uganda Onchocerciasis Elimination OEPA is a coalition led by The Carter able to provide ivermectin MDA as Expert Advisory Committee deter- Center that includes the ministries of well as , malaria treat- mined that the large Madi-Mid North health of the affected countries in the ments, and other health services. Some focus was suspected to have interrupted Americas, the Pan-American Health of the Yanomami people from the transmission. That leaves Lhubiriha as Organization/WHO, and other part- endemic communities of both Brazil the last focus of the original 17 foci in ners. The OEPA initiative has stopped and Venezuela serve as indigenous the country to have ongoing transmis- treatments in 94% of the population health agents and are proving vital to sion. Lhubiriha is a cross-border focus once endemic for river blindness, and the program to provide health services shared with the Democratic Republic of four countries have received WHO in this challenging area. OEPA received the Congo, which was fighting an Ebola verification of elimination. The last financial support from USAID, Merck outbreak in the area in 2019. Uganda active transmission zone is in the & Co., Inc., Lions Club International administered 3.7 million Mectizan Amazon Rainforest bordering Brazil and Foundation, and the Carlos Slim treatments in 2019, all under the Venezuela, named the Yanomami Focus Foundation in 2019. E twice-per-year strategy. For 2020, the Photo: CAICET/Oscar Noya Alarcón 7 River Blindness

Frank Richards Richards will remain Continued from page 1 chair of the Carter Center’s Onchocerciasis Helping the poorest of the poor avoid Elimination Program for easily preventable infectious diseases the Americas (OEPA) has been the focus of my career contri- steering committee. The bution to public health.” OEPA program assisted The Carter Center programs the only four countries in Richards directed have assisted min- the world — Colombia, istries of health to deliver over 500 Ecuador, Mexico, million treatments in 11 countries and Guatemala — to in and the Americas. The obtain World Health Carter Center’s malaria program Organization (WHO) In high school, Frank Richards (far left) played guitar helped deliver more than 18 million verification of elimina- in a band called The Revolution (not to be confused long-lasting insecticidal bed nets in tion of river blindness with Prince’s band of the same name), complete with Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Hispaniola. The transmission. In addi- tight white breeches and tricorn hats. programs work in collaboration with tion to those countries, 355,000 community volunteer health The Carter Center has 33 years to Sherri Poindexter Richards workers. assisted ministries of health to inter- and has two adult daughters. While Richards has authored or co- rupt transmission of river blindness he looks forward to further work with authored over 200 articles, letters, and safely halt ivermectin-based MDA Carter Center health programs, he’s and chapters. His awards include for over 7 million people in Uganda, eager to have more time for his other the Williams College Bicentennial Ethiopia, and Nigeria. The Center’s LF interests, including antique cars, scuba Medal, the National Medical programs in Nigeria and Ethiopia have diving, photography, and playing Fellowships Pioneer Award, the safely ended over 8 million treatments. the guitar. Outstanding Service Medal of the Richards also chairs the WHO Global Gregory Noland, Ph.D., M.P.H., U.S. Public Health Service, and Malaria Program’s Malaria Elimination succeeds Richards as director of the the U.S. Department of Health and Oversight Committee and sits on three Carter Center disease programs. Human Services’ Secretary’s Award for several research committees. He joined The Carter Center as a Distinguished Service. 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 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 Ethiopia has a much smaller yet are on their way to successfully elimi- for evidence of LF infection in 6- and still impressive LF program. The Carter nating LF as a public health problem. 7-year-old children. Once an area passes Center’s assistance in the Ethiopian LF Both countries are developing its first TAS, it can stop treatment. program helps over 2 million people at morbidity management and disability After three successful surveys (separated risk. In 2017, two districts in Amhara prevention programs to identify and by two to three years), a country can region became the first in the country assist people who still suffer from LF declare that area free of LF. to pass TAS-1, and more than 431,000 symptoms, such as swollen limbs or Programs supported by The Carter E treatments were stopped. These scrotal hydrocele. Photo: Courtesy Frank Richards 8 News

Starr Foundations Shine as Dependable Carter Center Partners

Established in 1955, The Starr Over the last two Foundation, the sister organization to decades, both Starr the Starr International Foundation, entities have pro- has positioned itself as a leading phil- vided core support anthropic organization in health care, to the Center’s education, and public policy. The Starr global health work and Starr International Foundations’ and direct support health care grants are varied, including to the Center’s capital grants to hospitals, research Onchocerciasis grants, and grants to assist in the Elimination provision of health care to underserved Program for the communities in New York City and Americas, the overseas. Since its establishment, The Malaria Control Starr Foundation has grown to become Program in one of the largest private foundations Nigeria, and the In Marabe 2, Chad, Dr. Hubert Zirimwabagabo of The Carter in the United States, having exceeded Guinea Worm Center speaks with a women’s group about how to prevent $3.6 billion in grants worldwide to Eradication Guinea worm disease. The Starr Foundations recently provided a $100,000 grant to the Center’s Guinea Worm Eradication Program. many academic, medical, cultural and Program. public policy organizations around For the past the world. 34 years, the Center has dedicated its Foundation and Starr International Since 1993, both the Starr efforts to disease eradication, elimina- Foundation, The Carter Center Foundations have been steadfast advo- tion, and control, while improving the continues to build health and hope in cates of the Center’s efforts to fight lives of millions worldwide. Thanks to some of the poorest and most isolated neglected tropical diseases worldwide. 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 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. Photos: Jane Hahn (top); Tom Saater (bottom) 9 Global Health News

Alwaleed Philanthropies Supports Five Carter Center Initiatives

The Carter Center’s partnerships health and peace programs. Alwaleed in the have spanned Philanthropies’ support has enabled decades and made a considerable the Center to eliminate river blindness impact on neglected tropical diseases transmission in Colombia (2013), worldwide. The Center currently part- Ecuador (2014), Mexico (2015), and ners with an array of Middle Eastern Guatemala (2016), leaving only 1% governments, organizations, corpora- of global river blindness cases remain- In 2019, Her Royal Highness tions, and members of royal families ing in Latin America. This success Princess Lamia Bint Majed Al Saud, to support its initiatives aimed at con- in Latin America demonstrated that Alwaleed Philanthropies secretary- trolling, eliminating, and eradicating disease transmission elimination is pos- general, announced a $1 million Guinea worm disease, lymphatic fila- sible in regions of Africa, where river investment to the Center’s Guinea riasis, river blindness, and trachoma, as blindness was long thought to be too Worm Eradication Program, bringing well as combating the stigma of mental prevalent to tackle. the foundation’s cumulative support illness. Alwaleed Philanthropies’ support to over $6 million. Without the Since 2003, Alwaleed of the Trachoma Control Program in unwavering support of its partners like Philanthropies, based in Saudi Ethiopia began in 2016. From 2016- Alwaleed Philanthropies, the Center Arabia, has supported the River 2019, the program in Ethiopia’s large would not be able to target these pre- Blindness Elimination Program’s Amhara region has performed over ventable neglected diseases worldwide. efforts in Ethiopia and Uganda, the 252,000 sight-saving surgeries and dis- Founded by His Royal Highness Onchocerciasis Elimination Program in tributed more than 57 million doses of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Alaziz the Americas, the Trachoma Control Zithromax®, a Pfizer-donated antibiotic Al Saud, Alwaleed Philanthropies Program in Ethiopia, and other that prevents trachoma infection. encourages and supports organizations, studies, and academic centers focus- ing on empowering Saudi women, alleviating , upgrading services provided to the Saudi population, and other social infrastructure issues that face the country. Prince Alwaleed is an avid supporter of peace and health on a global scale through his charitable and humanitarian foundations. 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 Pictured from left to right: Former Director of the River Blindness Elimination Program proud to work together to better the Frank Richards, Carter Center Trustee Terry Adamson, Minister of Health Mahamoud lives of millions. E 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. Photo: The Carter Center 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; Kelly Callahan, The Carter Center; and moderator Jim for Implementation and committed In Atlanta, the Burress, WABE Radio. to control, eliminate or eradicate 10 Beat NTDs: 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 , The Carter logistics coordinator Center was happy to participate in this The audience participates in the Beat NTDs: World NTD of the International 0 5 10 15special20 event.25 30 E35 40 Day Symposium in Atlanta on Jan. 30. Trachoma Initiative Chad 38 Ethiopia 0 Guinea Worm Disease Update Mali 0 South Sudan 1 Angola 1 January–July 2019 January–July 2020* 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 Ethiopia 7 Mali 0 Mali 1 South Sudan 1 South Sudan 1 Angola 1 Angola 1

*Provisional

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Photos: Task Force for Global Health Chad 9 Ethiopia 7 Mali 1 11 South Sudan 1 Angola 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.