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World Health Organization
In a historic effort to combat neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and improve the lives of 1.6 billion people globally, partners pledged a ground-breaking US$ 777 million at the 2023 Reaching the Last Mile (RLM) Forum. The Forum, hosted by RLM, a global health initiative led by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, was held during the first ever Health Day at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28). This global initiative unites efforts with countries endemic for NTDs to address the impact of climate change on these diseases. The pledged funds will finance essential programmes and treatments, support research and innovation, and strengthen front-line health systems and workforces.
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Reaching the Last Mile (This press release was republished by Gates Foundation)
Global donors at the 2023 Reaching the Last Mile Forum today pledged a collective US$777.2 million to help control, eliminate, and eradicate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), in a landmark push to accelerate progress towards achieving the goals outlined in the World Health Organization’s 2030 roadmap on NTDs.
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Two and up to four times a year, a team made up of health personnel from the Ministry of Health’s SACAICET (Simón Bolívar Amazon Center for Research and Control of Tropical Diseases), Indigenous Health Agents (Indigenous people trained in modern health practices) and military and civilian local personnel that give logistical support, visit around 393 indigenous communities dispersed in the jungles of the Venezuelan Amazon, in the states of Amazonas and Bolívar.
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This historical review was produced by National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE)’s CDC Chapter 1419 in collaboration with many CDC retirees and The Carter Center and the Task Force for Global Health. Manuscript development was led by Elvin Hilyer and Chapter 1419 President Elaine Gunter. Learn more »
Posted with permission from Uganda Ministry of Health (also published by New Vision newspaper).
The 16th meeting of the Uganda Onchocerciasis Elimination Expert Advisory Committee (UOEEAC) of the Ministry of Health, held from 9th to 10th August 2023 concluded that another river blindness-endemic focus had met WHO criteria for eliminating river blindness transmission following three years of active surveillance for infection after halting ivermectin mass treatment.
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Published by 75Creates. "A Williams Life" podcast hosted Gordon Earle.
In this episode of A Williams Life, host Gordon Earle talks with Dr. Frank (Rick) Richards, one of the world’s leading experts on parasitic infections. Rick has traveled to many parts of the world over his long and distinguished career. They include the poorest, most remote and impoverished locations in his successful efforts to eradicate diseases that have ravaged the health of millions of people. Among his many accomplishments is working with a team to eliminate river blindness in Guatemala.
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Published by UBC Television Uganda.
The Ministry of Health has announced Bushenyi and Mitooma Districts in Western Uganda officially free of River Blindness disease. The celebrations to highlight milestone in elimination foci were held in Bushenyi District for Imaramagambo focus which comprises of Bushenyi and Mitooma district.
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Published by Urban TV Uganda.
How Kagadi District district (Mpamba-Nkusi Focus) beat river blindness.
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Published by WBUR On Point podcast.
Parasites. Cause of terrible diseases. Big on the yuck-factor. It's easy to think of them as doing no good. Segment with the Carter Center's Frank Richards starts at 26:00 mark.
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Published by Brown University School of Public Health YouTube.
The Carter Center’s work to Eliminate Transmission of River Blindness (onchocerciasis) in Africa and the Americas” with Speaker: Frank O. Richards Jr, MD, FAAP, FASTMH - Senior Advisor, River Blindness, Lymphatic Filariasis, Schistosomiasis, and Malaria Programs, The Carter Center.
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Published by Brown University School of Public Health Continuum.
The School of Public Health’s Black History Month keynote lecturer gives perspective on the historical roots of river blindness in America and the Carter Center’s eradication efforts.
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Published by Mectizan Donation Program.
Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health has announced a record-breaking decision affecting nearly 18.9 million people. After 27 years of mass administration of Mectizan, four additional states (Abia, Anambra, Enugu, and Imo) have reached the interruption of transmission of river blindness, and will therefore stop treatment. This is the largest stop-treatment decision in the history of the global river blindness campaign.
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Sudan Federal Ministry of Health, posted with permission.
Sudan’s Federal Ministry of Health announces river blindness transmission elimination in Galabat focus after completing post-treatment surveillance. (بالعربية https://www.cartercenter.org/resources/pdfs/health/river_blindness/declartion-of-elimination-of-river-blindness-in-galabat-arabic.pdf) Learn more »
Published by USAID.
Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health announced this week that it has achieved the criteria needed to stop treatment for onchocerciasis – also known as river blindness – in four states. As the largest one-time achievement in the history of river blindness, this means more than 18.9 million more people no longer require treatment for this neglected tropical disease (NTD).
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Published by Act to End NTDs East.
This week, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health announced that it has achieved the criteria to stop treatment for onchocerciasis in four additional states representing more than 18.9 million people. These states — Imo, Abia, Enugu, and Anambra — are no longer at risk of the disease whose symptoms include severe itching, visual impairment, and disfiguration of the skin.
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Posted with permission from Nigeria Federal Ministry of Health.
Today Nigeria announced a record-breaking decision that frees nearly 18.9 million Nigerians in four states from the ancient and debilitating disease, river blindness. Learn more »
Published by Exemplars in Global Health.
In many parts of Nigeria, onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, has been as common as it has been devastating – having stolen the eyesight of an estimated 120,000 Nigerians and causing debilitating complications in many others. The disease has been so common, that researchers interviewing rural Nigerians in 1991 reported its symptoms, including the impairment of vision, are "believed by Nigerian rural dwellers to be part of the natural vicissitudes of aging.”
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Published by Health Policy Watch.
According to a report last week by The Carter Center, great progress toward eliminating guinea worm has been made, with the number of human cases annually falling from 3.5 million in the mid-1980s to just 13 cases in 2022, poising it to become the second disease in human history that could be eradicated altogether.
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Jan. 30, 2023, marked the fourth annual World NTD Day, highlighting the global community’s commitment to ending neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that cause immeasurable suffering among the world’s most marginalized communities. Together The Carter Center and our partners celebrated hard-earned progress to #EndtheNeglect and #BeatNTDs.
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Published by Voice of America.
According to the Carter Center, there were only 13 human cases of Guinea worm disease last year, pushing the illness closer to eradication. The Atlanta-based center was co-founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter.
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Published by USAID.
The rushing tributaries of the White Nile in northwest Uganda’s Moyo District make ideal breeding grounds for the black flies that transmit river blindness, as Fred Matalocu knows only too well.
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