The Carter Center and the Dominican Ministry of Public Health commence an integrated lymphatic filariasis remapping survey. Despite ongoing security challenges, the Center and Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population conduct LF transmission assessment surveys in three districts in Haiti. The Carter Center establishes 19 more community health councils in Sud department, Haiti.
The Dominican Republic reported the lowest number of malaria cases in the country (290) since 1975 (when there were 159). Post-treatment surveillance surveys for LF are completed in the East and La Ciénaga foci of the Dominican Republic that indicate LF transmission remains interrupted in both foci. The country launches the first ever support group for LF patients.
The Carter Center and Haitian Ministry of Health conduct surveys to measure post-LF MDA coverage and LF and malaria prevalence in Leogane and Gressier districts. Haitian president Jovenel Moïse was assassinated on July 7th exacerbating instability in the country.
Progress reports on efforts to eliminate malaria and lymphatic filariasis from Hispaniola were presented to the International Task Force for Disease Eradication.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupts public programs globally. The Carter Center supports two rounds of MDA for LF in Léogâne and Gressier, Haiti—one in February–March (delayed from 2019) and one in December. Carter Center establishes an additional 12 community health councils (CHCs) in Haiti and supports community engagement for a second Malaria Zero MDA campaign. Post-treatment surveillance surveys for LF are completed in the Southwest focus of the Dominican Republic; results indicate LF transmission remains eliminated.
The Carter Center's Hispaniola Initiative works with the ministries of health in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to eliminate malaria and lymphatic filariasis from the countries' shared island, Hispaniola.
In partnership with Malaria Zero, 23 community health councils (CHCs) were established across five communes in Grande Anse in 2018. In 2019, 36 more CHCs were established in the remaining seven communes of Grande Anse.
All formerly LF-endemic areas of the Dominican Republic qualify to stop MDA by successfully completing a transmission assessment survey (TAS).
The Dominican Republic and Haiti won the Malaria Champions in the Americas Award recognizing their outstanding work in interrupting malaria transmission and developing local systems to access malaria diagnosis and treatment.
The Carter Center conducted a survey for malaria and lymphatic filariasis in agricultural areas across the Dominican Republic to investigate the burden of these diseases in isolated communities historically suspected of being reservoirs for disease transmission.
The Carter Center, the ministries of health in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and other partners formed a consortium, known as the Malaria Zero alliance, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to accelerate malaria elimination on Hispaniola. The Carter Center had the lead role in community engagement to promote and deliver community-based interventions for malaria elimination.
As part of Malaria Zero activities, Carter Center staff helped develop curriculum and served as instructors for malaria elimination training for Haitian Ministry of health staff, and drafted plans for Malaria Zero implementation.
The Hispaniola Initiative expanded institutional support for malaria and LF elimination on Hispaniola. In Haiti, The Carter Center participated in meetings to update Haiti’s National Strategic Plan for malaria. In the Dominican Republic, the Center provided financial support for LF mass drug administration launching in the East and technical assistance for an LF transmission assessment survey in the La Ciénaga area of Santo Domingo.
The Center also commissioned an economic study to provide an updated cost of eliminating malaria and lymphatic filariasis on Hispaniola.
Progress reports on efforts to eliminate malaria and lymphatic filariasis from Hispaniola were presented to the International Task Force for Disease Eradication.
The Carter Center sponsored additional meetings to continue binational coordination of malaria and LF elimination activities.
The Carter Center sponsored four binational meetings to update malaria and LF elimination plans. Emory Report: Mosquito-borne Diseases Under Attack in Haiti, Dominican Republic.
In November, the International Task Force for Disease Eradication (ITFDE) reviewed progress on malaria and lymphatic filariasis elimination on Hispaniola. Read the report (PDF).
President Carter participated in the first launching of mass drug administration for LF in metropolitan Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Haiti and the Dominican Republic produced a binational plan to eliminate malaria from Hispaniola by 2020. Haiti also produced a national plan to eliminate LF by 2020. In October, President Carter met with heads of state of both countries to mobilize support for these plans.
The Carter Center helped the ministries of health establish a cross-border pilot project to target malaria in Ouanaminthe, Haiti (pop. 92,000), and Dajabón, Dominican Republic (pop. 27,000). The project included purchase and distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets; provision of laboratory supplies, motorbikes, and other equipment; training for health staff; and protocol standardization for malaria diagnosis and treatment.
The International Task Force for Disease Eradication (ITFDE) concluded that implementation of an integrated comprehensive program to eliminate both malaria and lymphatic filariasis from the island of Hispaniola is technically feasible and medically desirable and would be economically beneficial to both the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Read the report (PDF).
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