The Carter Center Health and Peace Programs appreciate the continued support of our foundation, government, and corporate donors and are pleased to highlight their contributions in these regular Web features.
Featured January 2013
The Carter Center is pleased to announce that a cumulative total value of $1 million has been reached for in-kind donations received from Vestergaard Frandsen. Since 1999, Vestergaard Frandsen has generously provided pipe and cloth filters to the Guinea Worm Eradication Program and long-lasting insecticide treated bed nets (PermaNets®) 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.
Vestergaard Frandsen's charitable contributions are a testament to the company's enduring commitment to prevent suffering caused by devastating global health challenges that impact people at the base of the pyramid. The 55-year old international company is headquartered in Switzerland and has offices that span five continents. It is structured around a humanitarian entrepreneurship business model where doing good is good business. This approach supports achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Vestergaard Frandsen's game-changing solutions contribute to a healthier, more sustainable planet by fighting diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS, diarrheal disease and neglected tropical diseases. The company is the largest producer of long-lasting insecticidal bed nets. About a half billion PermaNet® bed nets have contributed to the reduction in deaths from malaria by more than one third. The company's award-winning LifeStraw® water filter was named "One of Ten Things that Will Change the Way We Live" by Forbes magazine. The personal version of LifeStraw® has been deployed following almost every natural disaster since 2005, and the family version is the backbone of the LifeStraw® Carbon for Water™ campaign in Kenya. This is one of the world's largest privately funded water programs, providing more than 4.5 million Kenyans with sustainable access to clean and safe drinking water. Additional company initiatives targeting the MDGs focus on HIV testing, climate mitigation and food security.
Vestergaard Frandsen's effective tools for stopping transmission of devastating diseases have helped the Center and its partners to make progress against Guinea worm disease and lymphatic filariasis. Globally, the number of Guinea worm disease cases has been reduced from an estimated 3.5 million in 1986 to fewer than 600 reported provisionally in 2012. Similarly, transmission of lymphatic filariasis has been dramatically reduced through efforts that are focused on community education and drug distribution. Charitable partners such as Vestergaard Frandsen are positively impacting lives by eliminating the burden of these diseases. The Carter Center is deeply appreciative of the generous support of Vestergaard Frandsen in its mission to improve health.
Vestergaard extended their 2010 in-kind donation of the cloth and pipe filters to the Carter Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program through 2016. Simple cloth and pipe filters have been used by the Guinea worm eradication campaign for decades. Recently, Vestergaard rebranded their donated filters to the LifeStraw family of products as LifeStraw® Guinea Worm.
Updated May 2014
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