Carter Center Featured Partner: Vestergaard

Featured October 2014

As the number of cases of Guinea worm disease continues to decline, sustained support becomes crucial to successfully getting rid of the disease for good. Partnerships like our fifteen-year relationship with Vestergaard are not only changing the face of corporate philanthropy, but also are making possible eradication of this debilitating parasite. Vestergaard's recent pledge of LifeStraw^® Guinea Worm filters valued at $365,900 (consisting of $182,950 per year for 2015 and 2016) will greatly contribute to accomplishing the shared goal of eradicating Guinea worm disease.

Vestergaard is an international company committed to improving the health of the world's vulnerable populations through innovative solutions. For the past 15 years, Vestergaard has generously provided pipe and cloth filters to the Carter Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program and long-lasting insecticide treated bed nets (PermaNet^®) to the Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Program. These products play a key role in preventing transmission of both diseases and protecting the health of those living in endemic areas. Together with their new pledge, Vestergaard will provide a total of in-kind gifts and pledges valued at $1.56 million to the Center's health programs in the period from 1999-2016.

The 57-year-old Swiss-based company follows a humanitarian entrepreneurship  business model whereby doing good is good business. Vestergaard's game-changing solutions contribute to a healthier, more sustainable planet by fighting diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria, diarrheal disease and neglected tropical diseases.

The company's award-winning LifeStraw^® water filter was named "One of Ten Things that Will Change the Way We Live" by Forbes magazine and the personal version of LifeStraw^® has been distributed following almost every natural disaster since 2005. The family version is the backbone of the LifeStraw^® Carbon for Water™ campaign in Kenya, which is one of the world's largest privately funded water programs, providing more than four million Kenyans with sustainable access to clean and safe drinking water. The newly launched LifeStraw<sup®< sup=""> Follow the Liters program harnesses the power of consumers to impact the global water crisis. For every consumer purchase of a LifeStraw® product, one child in a developing community receives safe water for an entire year.

Additional company initiatives focus on HIV testing, climate mitigation, and food security.

Cases of Guinea worm disease have been reduced by more than 99.9 percent since The Carter Center and its partners, including local ministries of health, launched the Guinea Worm Eradication Program in 1986. In 2013, a total of only 148 cases were reported worldwide. Charitable partners such as Vestergaard are positively impacting lives by eliminating the burden of this disease and many others. The Carter Center is deeply appreciative of the generous support of Vestergaard in its mission to improve health.

Visit this partner's website:
Vestergaard