Trachoma Control Program - In the News Archive

Sept. 30, 2022
EMORY + THE CARTER CENTER Celebrate 40 Years of Partnership
Published by Emory Magazine. 
The collaboration between Emory University and The Carter Center, established in 1982, has fostered an extraordinary community of scholarship and practice that has had an impact across the world, advancing peace and improving health. President Jimmy Carter, in 1996, referred to it as a “marriage that has worked out quite well.”

Autumn 2022
Nearly a Happy Ending
Published by Notre Dame Magazine
As The Carter Center’s country director for South Sudan, Niquette’s job is to drive out the serpent. He’s joined in that endeavor by two other Notre Dame alumni, Craig Withers ’76 and Lynn Malooly ’84. They share a commitment to implementing what’s known as WASH, shorthand for the standards of water, sanitation and hygiene required to improve health and reduce poverty in the developing world.

June 20, 2022
World Refugee Day Blog: Sudan Increases Efforts to Deliver Trachoma Interventions to Refugees
Published by the International Coalition for Trachoma Control
Ending the neglect to attain the Sustainable Development Goals: a road map for neglected tropical diseases 2021-2030 targets trachoma for elimination as a public health problem by 2030. Achieving the global target, however, is complicated by political, environmental and social factors that make it hard to reach some of the world’s most marginalised populations, such as refugees.

May 12, 2022
COVID-19 Nasal Spray Could Transform Medicine Delivery, Treatment (Video)
Published by Voice of America-TV.
A promising antiviral delivery system developed at Northwestern University in Illinois could mean a "game changer" in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 infections. For several decades, Kelly Callahan has worked for the carter Center's global nonprofit, which provides treatment and medication to people suffering from neglected tropical diseases in some of the most remote and warm places on the planet. En Español »

April 15, 2021
By Foot or Flight
Published by Mission Aviation Fellowship of Canada.
Recently, MAF pilot Wouter Nagel flew a shipment of antibiotics for The Carter Center to the hilltop community of Nagishot, in South Sudan, to help combat the spread of trachoma in this rural community. At 6444 feet above sea level, Nagishot, in Eastern Equatoria State, is the highest airstrip and community in South Sudan.

Dec. 17, 2020
Carter Center Neglected Tropical Disease Programs Adapt And Overcome Amid Pandemic
Published by Georgia Global Health Alliance.
The COVID-19 pandemic has harmed patients, families, and economies, and even societies and political systems. It has pushed health care providers to the breaking point and brought many public health interventions to a heart-rending halt. Nevertheless, The Carter Center has persevered in our primary mission through resilience and adaptation characteristic of our founders, former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn.

Dec. 17, 2020
The Carter Center Addresses Mental Health During COVID-19 Pandemic
Published by Georgia Global Health Alliance.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented levels of stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and substance abuse among populations worldwide. Meanwhile, critical mental health and disability services have been disrupted. Recognizing that the need for mental health and substance use management will grow during and after the pandemic, the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program is pushing for mental health to be part of COVID-19 responses everywhere and is applying a COVID-19 lens across its work to strengthen behavioral health services and integrate mental health and substance use management into key health and development priorities.

Aug. 25, 2020
New Coalition Aims to Maximize Impact of Health Campaigns
Published by Health Campaign Effectiveness (HCE) Coalition.
Many countries have set bold goals to prevent and eliminate diseases and a new Task Force initiative seeks to foster collaboration so countries can reach those goals faster. The Health Campaign Effectiveness (HCE) Coalition is funded by an $8.2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Aug. 6, 2020
Why Tailored Programs Are Needed To Improve Indigenous Health: Lessons From The Global Trachoma Program
Published by International Coalition for Trachoma Control.
Since 2002, huge strides have been made towards the global elimination of trachoma as a public health problem. The World Health Organization Weekly Epidemiological Record, published on 24 July 2020, reported that the number of people at risk of trachoma has declined from 1.5 billion in 2002 to 136.9 million in 2020 – a 91% reduction.

Aug. 3, 2020
What Can the Trachoma Community Teach Us About Partnerships?  
Published by Devex.
Abstract: Over 20 years ago, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter went to pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and asked the company to join the fight against trachoma. The disease could not be eliminated without mass administration of antibiotics, which at-risk countries — such as Ethiopia, South Sudan, and dozens of others across Africa, Asia, Latin America, Oceania, and the Middle East — could not afford. The Carter Center, a nonprofit founded by the former president and his wife, Rosalynn, was leading the fight against a number of neglected tropical diseases and needed the private sector to support its trachoma control program. 

Aug. 3, 2020
Collective Intelligence for the Health of 1 Billion People
Published by El Pais.
Abstract: Twenty years ago, Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) expert Kelly Callahan and her team found themselves at the helm of a unique task: helping present-day South Sudan - still part of Sudan at the time - to launch its anti-virus program. trachoma, the world's leading infectious cause of preventable blindness.

Oct. 17, 2019
LCIF and The Carter Center: Partners in Vision
Published on the Lions Club International Foundation website.
The Carter Center partnership is among the most important and long-lasting relationships currently enjoyed by the SightFirst program and Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF). “I’m proud to be a Lion and proud of the Carter Center’s SightFirst partnership with Lions Clubs. I’m grateful for their support in alleviating millions of men, women, and children of preventable blindness. It is one of the strongest partnerships the Center has ever had,” said 39th U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Carter Center founder.

June 6, 2019
Could Antibiotics Be A Silver Bullet For Kids In Africa?
Published by National Public Radio: Goats and Soda.
Author: Tim McDonnell. Children in the study were given a twice-yearly dose of the antibiotic azithromycin. Researchers found that their mortality rate was significantly lower than that of untreated children.

Jan. 17, 2019
Ghana: Accelerating neglected tropical disease control in a setting of economic development
Published by PLOS NTDs.
Ghana is exhibiting impressive economic gains that may compare with the growth rates expected in India or China. With economic development, there is an expectation that the prevalence and disease burden of the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and other poverty-related neglected diseases will decline.

Oct. 31, 2018
SAFE Succeeds in Cutting Trachoma Burden in Sudan
Published by MedPage Today.
Sudan moves toward the elimination of blindness-causing infection. A new strategy appeared effective in reducing the prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF) in Sudan, results of an impact survey indicated. After implementation of the so-called SAFE program, the researchers assessed the current prevalence of TF in Sudan in the 14 non-Darfur localities that were endemic. Of those localities, nine were under 5% TF and mass drug administration (MDA) had stopped. 

September 2018
Drug Makers Give Billions to Fight Neglected Diseases Globally
Published by The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Subscription is required to access full text.
The milestones keep coming in the global fight against trachoma. In May, the World Health Organization officially declared Nepal free of the progressive eye disease, which often begins with repeated childhood infections that turn the eyelids inward, leading the eyelashes to painfully scrap the surface of the eyes. It was the sixth country to eliminate trachoma, and the first in Southeast Asia. One month later, Ghana, too, was confirmed to be trachoma free, the first sub-Saharan Africa country to eliminate the disease.

July 16, 2018
Now in Sight: Success Against an Infection That Blinds
Published by The New York Times.
In May, the World Health Organization declared that Nepal had eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, making it the sixth country to do so. In June, Ghana became the seventh. Quietly, in the shadow of fights against better-known diseases like Ebola, AIDS and malaria, the 20-year battle against trachoma is chalking up impressive victories.

June 13, 2018
Ghana Becomes First Country in WHO Africa Region to Eliminate Trachoma
Published by the International Coalition for Trachoma Control (ICTC).
Ghana has officially eliminated trachoma, the world's leading infectious cause of blindness, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced. It is the first time a WHO African Region country has been validated for eliminating trachoma as a public health problem.

June 12, 2018
Pfizer Announces Extension of Zithromax® Antibiotic Donation Program through 2025 to Help Eliminate World’s Leading Infectious Cause of Blindness
Published by Business Wire.
Pfizer Inc. announced today it will extend its donation of the antibiotic Zithromax® (azithromycin) to the International Trachoma Initiative through 2025, building on the company’s 20-years of work to help eliminate the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness.

May 9, 2018
New Initiative Will Drive Atlanta’s Reputation as the Center for Global Health
Published by Global Health ATL.
The Metro Atlanta Chamber, Georgia Global Health Alliance and Deloitte announced the launch of Global Health ATL. The initiative’s priorities are to create a health innovation hub in the heart of metro Atlanta and drive impact in areas such as disease eradication, economic development and disaster response.

April 25, 2018
Preventive Use of Common Antibiotic Reduces Child Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa
Published by the University of California San Francisco.
Treating young children in Sub-Saharan Africa with azithromycin, a safe, inexpensive, and widely used antibiotic, significantly reduced deaths of children under five in a large randomized trial led by scientists at UC San Francisco. The finding could help speed progress toward the United Nations’ goal of ending preventable child deaths by 2030.

April 25, 2018
Infant Deaths Fall Sharply in Africa With Routine Antibiotics
Published by The New York Times.
Two doses a year of an antibiotic can sharply cut death rates among infants in poor countries, perhaps by as much as 25 percent among the very young, researchers reported.

April 11, 2018
Nasarawa State Free from Lymphatic Filariasis
Published by PM News (Nigeria).
The Nasarawa State Government and Carter Center, an NGO, have confirmed that lymphatic filariasis and trachoma, both of which are Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), have been eliminated from the state.

Oct. 2, 2017
Former President Jimmy Carter Chosen as 2017 Prix Galien Pro Bono Humanum Honoree
Published by PR Newswire.
The Galien Awards Committee announced today that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter will receive the 2017 Pro Bono Humanum Award at the 11th annual Prix Galien USA Awards Ceremony, to be held on Thursday, October 26, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Sept. 30, 2017
Tackling Trachoma Takes Teamwork
Published by The Lion Foundation Magazine.
Lions have saved millions from blindness caused by trachoma, a bacterial infection leading to scarred corneas and resulting in a slow, painful process toward complete blindness. Lions Clubs International Foundation’s (LCIF) SightFirst program has awarded more than US$29 million to The Carter Center to combat trachoma in Africa. Lion Kelly Callahan is director of The Carter Center’s Trachoma Control Program.

June 27, 2017
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Trachoma?
Published by Philanthropy Age.
Trachoma is a preventable disease that can lead to blindness. The Carter Center is leading the fight to drive it out of the world’s poorest regions.

June 6, 2017
Celebrating Success on the Road to National Trachoma Elimination in Uganda (PDF)
Press release by The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust.
Today, a celebration takes place in Dokolo, Uganda, where, due to the significant progress achieved to date towards eliminating blinding trachoma as a public health problem, the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust’s Trachoma Initiative is now expanding into up to 14 new districts in the East, West and North of Uganda with the support of Lions Clubs International Foundation.

April 27, 2017
National Peace Corps Association to Honor Distinguished Humanitarian Kelly Callahan with the 2017 Sargent Shriver Award
Published by the National Peace Corps Association.
The National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) is proud to announce that the 2017 Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service will go to Kelly Callahan in recognition of her tireless efforts over 20 years to the eradication of Guinea worm disease and the elimination of blinding trachoma. These two diseases are considered “neglected tropical diseases” and affect the poorest of the poor. NPCA will present the award during the annual Peace Corps Connect conference, August 2-4, 2017 in Denver, Colorado.

Dec. 13, 2016
The End of Trachoma, World’s Leading Cause of Preventable Blindness, Is in Sight
Published by Global Health TV.
In 1988, as a young development worker for Lutheran World Relief in Mali, I was showing a group of American Lutherans our development projects in Dogon Country, when we came across a tragic situation – a young boy with a severely infected eye, where he had lost his sight, with menacing flies hovering around the other, still good eye.

Nov. 15, 2016
Community Hosts Outreach Milestone Celebration
Published by The Nation: Nigeria.
A rustic community in the Federal Capital Territory (FTC) was chosen to host the Carter Centre’s milestone of administering 500 million doses of medication to fight Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in 14 countries, including Nigeria, reports Vincent Ikuomola.

Oct. 5, 2016
“Trachoma: Defeating a Blinding Curse”
Published by Global Health Frontiers.
The third film in the Global Health Frontiers series, “Trachoma” takes viewers to the front lines of an epic battle in Ethiopia against a blinding disease that has for millennia caused untold suffering for countless victims worldwide.

Oct. 3, 2016
Trachoma: Defeating a Blinding Curse
Broadcast on American Public Television, CIELO Global Health Media.
Distributed on over 1200 American Public Television stations nationwide, the documentary "Trachoma" follows dedicated American advisors from The Carter Center as they work in partnership with Ethiopian health authorities to mobilize thousands of volunteers and build a community-based delivery network to fight a blinding disease that has, for millennia, caused untold suffering for countless victims worldwide.

July 25, 2016
Eliminating Blinding Trachoma in Ethiopia: Progress Through Partnerships 
Published by the International Trachoma Initiative.
To support Ethiopia’s goal of wiping out blinding trachoma in the country’s most trachoma-endemic state, The Carter Center and the International Trachoma Initiative participate in Trachoma Week, bringing together communities and core partners to fight the blinding disease.

March 24, 2016
Lions Club Funds Trachoma Fight in Busoga, Karamoja
Published by New Vision.
The Lions Clubs International Foundation and the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust have donated $1million (Shs3.3b) to Uganda to boost the fight against trachoma in Busoga and Karomoja sub-regions. In a briefing, the Lions Clubs of Uganda trachoma grant administrator said the contribution is part of $5 million (Shs168b) five-year grant which is spread up to 2020 to eliminate trachoma in the world.

Nov. 16, 2015
Bringing NTDs Into Sharp Focus- A Joint Vision for Better Sight in Ethiopia
Published by DevEx.com.
Public and private partners, including The Carter Center, work together to help Ethiopia mobilize support for its Neglected Tropical Diseases program.

Nov. 16, 2015
Global Partners Announce Donation of 500 Millionth Dose of Azithromycin, Marking Exceptional Progress to Help Alleviate the Suffering from Trachoma (PDF)
Published by Pfizer, International Trachoma Initiative, & the International Coalition for Trachoma Control.
The International Trachoma Initiative (ITI), Pfizer Inc. and International Coalition for Trachoma Control (ICTC) partners announce Pfizer's donation of the 500 millionth dose of Zithromax® (azithromycin) Tablets, an antibiotic used to treat trachoma in certain countries. The milestone marks significant achievement in global efforts to help eliminate this infectious and preventable eye disease that can lead to permanent blindness, as a public health threat by the year 2020.

Oct. 1, 2015
Trachoma: Defeating a Blinding Curse
Published by American Public Television.
"Trachoma: Defeating a Blinding Curse," a documentary feature film that follows dedicated health workers - including Carter Center staff, global health partners, and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter - engaged in a comprehensive strategy to eliminate blinding trachoma in Ethiopia, will air on American Public Television stations nationwide beginning Oct 1.

June 12, 2015
Ethiopia: Clean Face, Healthy Eyes – No Trachoma
Published by The Ethiopian Herald.
Ethiopia's Ministry of Health, in collaboration with The Carter Centre, Task Force for Global Health International Trachoma Initiative, held a campaign to fight trachoma in the highly affected Amhara State for five consecutive days with the theme 'clean face, healthy eyes'.

April 27, 2015
Noor Dubai Team Visits with Carter Centre
Published by Gulf News.
The Carter Centre and Noor Dubai Foundation continue to collaborate in trachoma elimination programme. A delegation from Noor Dubai Foundation was received by a senior member from the Carter Centre in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States.

March 3, 2015
Carter Center Works to Eradicate Trachoma
Published by Voice of America.
The Carter Center's Trachoma Control Program is working to eradicate the eye disease called Trachoma that often causes blindness. If left untreated, the disease causes the eyelids and lashes to grow inward, scratching the cornea.

Nov. 20, 2014
Government Launches Campaign to Eradicate Trachoma
Published by the Daily Monitor (Uganda).
The Ministry of Health in partnership with Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, has launched a five-year campaign aimed at eradicating trachoma in the country.

Nov. 3, 2014
Building is Only the Start
Published by The New York Times.
Author: Dr. Donald R. Hopkins
Letter to the Editor in response to "Latrines May Not Improve Health of Poor Children" (Global Health, Oct. 28): I am surprised by a recent study published in The Lancet that found the prevalence of diarrhea and intestinal worms among children in a district of 51,000 people in India had not improved two years after a latrine-building campaign.

Oct. 9, 2014
Environmental and Education Efforts Lead Assault on Trachoma
Published by Financial Times (subscription required to view article).
As recently as 15 years ago, most people in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, "viewed trachoma as a way of life", says Dr Tebebe Berhan, a medical doctor and businessman. The prevalence of trachoma there was the highest in the world. At the time, the Carter Center, among other agencies, was in the region combating Guinea worm. Jimmy Carter wanted to expand its efforts to trachoma; moreover, he had a personal connection as he remembered his mother treating people suffering from the condition in his native Georgia.

Sept. 22, 2014
From Auction to Action: Battling Trachoma in Ethiopia (page 40-45)
Published by Philanthropy Age.
At Dubai Ladies Club, the thick, oyster-coloured carpet muffles the click of women's heels. In an elegant white room, polite murmurs crescendo as the bidding begins in earnest at the annual Art4Sight auction; more than 100 philanthropists and art collectors will vie for ownership of 39 works donated by regional artists. Meanwhile, in Kosero – a kebele, or sub-district, of the highland Amhara region in Ethiopia – a small group of women in pink, yellow and blue print wraps sit patiently by a golden haystack, amid lush fields. They too murmur and chatter. The community group meets weekly, swapping tips and monitoring each other, to discuss household and personal cleanliness. Both groups, while worlds apart, are fighting for the same goal: to eliminate blinding trachoma.

Sept. 14, 2014
In the Quest to Make a Difference, "A Path Appears"
Published by NPR's Goats and Soda blog.
While promoting their new book, "A Path Appears," journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn are highlighting the Center's river blindness and trachoma work as a reason to remain optimistic in the face of daunting global problems.

Aug. 14, 2014
Kelly Callahan Interview on The Barbara Dooley Radio Show (link no longer available)
Kelly Callahan, the director of the Carter Center's Trachoma Control Program, was interviewed about the Center's work on the Barbara Dooley Radio Show. The interview highlighted the Center's efforts to combat the bacterial eye infection trachoma, as well as the overall work of The Carter Center and the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum.

May 18, 2014
Noor Dubai in Ethiopia for Trachoma Drive
Published by the Khaleej Times.
A delegation from Noor Dubai Foundation recently travelled to Ethiopia's Amhara to examine the progress of its latest initiative, the trachoma elimination programme, which is taking place in collaboration with the Carter Centre. The three-year programme is aimed to treat 18 million individuals living under poverty in 167 districts across Amhara region. The delegation examined the progress of the four main areas of the programme: Surgeries and operational theaters, medicine and antibiotics distribution, latrines and educational health programs.

May 17, 2014
Noor Dubai Foundation Visits Ethiopia to Eliminate Trachoma
Published by GulfNews.com.
A delegation from Noor Dubai Foundation recently travelled to Ethiopia as part of its three-year programme to eliminate trachoma, an eye disease associated with poverty and which affects millions. The delegation, in collaboration with the Carter Centre, visited the Amhara National Regional State to help some 18 million people living in poverty in 167 districts across the region. Amhara is one of the most trachoma-endemic regions of the world, where about nine million children aged one to nine are affected by trachoma.

May 16, 2014
Lions Club Gives Millions to Carter Centerto Fight Blinding Disease
Published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Lions Clubs International Foundation Chairperson Wayne Madden announced May 15 an $8.8 million gift for its joint effort with Atlanta's Carter Center for their joint SightFirst Initiative to battle major causes of preventable blindness in Africa.

May 5, 2014
Mulat Zerihun Lemu: "We Stand With Them"
Published by Al Jazeera English.
Meet the Ethiopian doctor who is helping bring an end to the unnecessary blindness caused by trachoma infections. The Carter Center's Mulat Zerihun Lemu has been working in the Amhara region of Ethiopia for over ten years. Amhara is reportedly one of the worst affected areas for trachoma in the world and the health heroes like Lemu are turning the tide on a disease that has caused crippling blindness in the community.

May 2, 2014
Al Jazeera Profiles Ethiopia Trachoma 'Health Heroes'
Published by Al Jazeera.
Ethiopia's pioneering efforts to eliminate blinding trachoma, in partnership with The Carter Center, Lions Clubs International Foundation, and others, are featured in the documentary series "Lifelines: The Quest for Global Health," which will be broadcast outside the United States on Al Jazeera English. The series also will highlight the Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program in South Sudan and the River Blindness Elimination Program in Uganda.

Jan. 21, 2014
Mohammed Lauds Carter Centre's Work
This article was published in the Khaleej Times and Gulf News.com.
Shaikh Mohammed and Jimmy Carter exchanged talks on a number of humanitarian issues, especially in the countries experiencing political tensions and natural disasters.

Jan. 20, 2014
Noor Dubai and The Carter Center sign an MoU to Eliminate Blinding Trachoma in Ethiopia
Published by Noor Dubai.
H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, welcomed the former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. President Carter is visiting Dubai for the launch of the first phase of the "Trachoma Elimination in Ethiopia" program in collaboration with Noor Dubai Foundation.

Jan. 15, 2014
NBC Special Highlights Carter Center's Trachoma Work in Ethiopia
Published by WXIA-TV (NBC affiliate).
WXIA-TV aired a special 30-minute report on Wednesday, Jan. 15, at 7:30 p.m. on the Carter Center's work to prevent blinding trachoma in Ethiopia. WXIA Anchor Brenda Wood traveled with The Carter Center to Amhara Region, Ethiopia, to see firsthand this pioneering work being done in one of the world's most trachoma-endemic areas, where interventions by the Center and its partners are ending disability from this devastating disease.

Jan. 1, 2014
We Did It! Lions and Lion Jimmy Carter Triumph Over Blindness
Published by Lions Club International.
This article appeared in the January 2014 issue of LION Magazine, published by Lions Clubs International Foundation. LION Magazine talked with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on our progress against blindness, his decades-long Lions membership, and on staying active as you age.

Nov. 7, 2013
Jimmy Carter Fights to Eliminate Eye Disease That Plagued His Childhood
Published by Scientific American – Observation Blog.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was at Pfizer Headquarters in Manhattan on November 5th to honor the 15th anniversary of the International Trachoma Initiative, a non-for-profit program dedicated to eliminating the eye disease as a public health concern by 2020. Trachoma is a bacterial infection, often spread by houseflies, and it stands as the leading cause of infectious blindness in the world.

Nov. 6, 2013
Atlanta NGOs to Celebrate Anti-Trachoma Campaign in Ethiopia
Published by Global Atlanta.
The campaign in Ethiopia to distribute a Pfizer Inc. drug that helps eliminate the blinding trachoma disease is to be celebrated on Sunday, Nov. 10, in the country's Amhara Region. The 100 millionth dose of Zithromax in Ethiopia is to be distributed during the ceremony that is to include representatives of the Ethiopian government, Pfizer, the Carter Center, the Decatur-based International Trachoma Initiative and other partners.

Nov. 6, 2013
Jimmy Carter: Drug Makers' Generosity Good for Global Society, Also Boosts PR
Published by SCRIP Intelligence.
If the charitable organization The Carter Center had to depend on the US government to furnish the antibiotics needed to treat trachoma, an infectious eye disease that is the leading cause of preventable blindness in the developing world, the medicines would never make their way to patients, said former President Jimmy Carter. But Pfizer has been providing its product Zithromax (azithromycin) for free for the past 15 years to help eradicate the disease, Mr Carter said, noting that the organization he founded will be distributing the 100 millionth dose of Zithromax next week in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, which is thought to be the most trachoma-endemic area in the world.

Nov. 5, 2013
Pfizer Honors Cheap Drugs in Grand Style as President Carter Fetes Trachoma Program
Published by The Pink Sheet Daily.
While Pfizer Inc. is moving away from the development of new anti-infectives, it is gaining a big public relations boost from one of its old drugs. Former President Jimmy Carter came to Pfizer's New York headquarters on Nov. 5 to thank the company for its 15 years of donating the antibiotic Zithromax(azithromycin) to The Carter Center to help in the fight to eradicate trachoma, an infectious eye disease that is the world's leading cause of preventable blindness. He first met with Pfizer staff and invited guests before holding a press briefing with Pfizer Chairman and CEO Ian Read.

Nov. 5, 2013
Jimmy Carter Works for Global End to Blindness Caused by Houseflies
Published by Reuters.
As Jimmy Carter approaches 90, he is reaching for victory in a 15-year war against an infection spread by houseflies that blinds millions in developing countries and posed a threat to his own family and neighbors as a child on a Georgia farm. "Our goal is to eliminate blinding trachoma from the face of the earth by 2020," the former U.S. president said during a visit on Tuesday to the New York headquarters of Pfizer Inc, which donates the antibiotic Zithromax used to treat the disease.

Nov. 5, 2013
Jimmy Carter Fights to Eradicate Diseases
Published by ABC's Good Morning America.
The former president's passion project, The Carter Center, helps get medicine to some of the most remote locations in the world. President Carter was in New York to attend a celebration at Pfizer Headquarters on November 5th to honor the 15th anniversary of the International Trachoma Initiative.

Nov. 5, 2013
Carter Celebrates Program to End Trachoma Disease
Published by The Associated Press.
Former President Jimmy Carter and officials from Pfizer Inc. celebrated the 15th anniversary of an initiative focused on eliminating an infectious eye disease known to cause blindness in people living in developing nations. The pharmaceutical company has provided hundreds of millions of doses of the antibiotic, Zithromax, through the International Trachoma Initiative, Carter Center officials said Tuesday. The focus of the initiative is to help eliminate blinding trachoma by 2020, Carter Center officials said.

Sept. 16, 2013
Blinding Trachoma: Why Success Depends on Risk Taking
Published by The Guardian (UK).
Blinding disease trachoma is a bacterial eye infection, once endemic to the United Kingdom, United States, and Europe, but now relegated to the poorest, most neglected communities on earth – largely in sub-Saharan Africa. Though easily preventable, trachoma can rob a victim of quality of life slowly, by painfully blinding by repeated infections over the years.

Aug. 3, 2013
Over 60 Patients Get Free Eye Operation in Torit
Published by The New Nation (South Sudan), Gurtong.
Over 60 patients have received a free eye operation during a two-week health care service in Torit, supported by the Carter Centre. The service targeted patients with trachoma trichiasis, which is an advanced stage of trachoma, an eye infection that can lead to blindness. "The eye health care service is a programme of the national Ministry of Health, supported by the Carter Centre," explained surgeon Joseph Malish of the health ministry.

June 19, 2013
Dr. Paul Emerson: The Carter Center's Powerful Fight Against Trachoma (link no longer available)
Published by ANDMagazine.com.
Once an epidemic in Europe and America, trachoma has disappeared from developed countries, but the disease is still prevalent in the poorest, most isolated places on earth.

April 29, 2013
How to Keep the Spotlight on Neglected Tropical Diseases
Published by The Guardian (UK).
The London Declaration, in January 2012, gathered together international politicians, heads of pharmaceutical companies and of donor organisations, and was for many in the global health community evidence of a renewed commitment to eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). But how much has been achieved one year on?

April 17, 2013
320 Million Are At Risk Of Preventable Blindness
Broadcast on Huffington Post Live. Dr. Paul Emerson's accompanying Huffington Post blog is available here.
It's the world's leading cause of preventable blindness. It's spreads easily from person to person, and of the 320 million at risk, most are children. Dr. Paul Emerson is going to great lengths to fight it.

April 9, 2013
President Carter on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | Part 1 > | Part 2 >
Aired on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
President Carter appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and explained how The Carter Center has nearly eradicated Guinea worm disease. President Carter also discussed latrine building in Ethiopia to prevent trachoma and answered a few questions about the news of the day.

April 4, 2013
Neglected Tropical Diseases: How You Can Help
Published by ABCNews.com.
For a billion people around the globe, everyday activities like eating, drinking and walking pose a serious health risk. They lead to serious debilitating diseases that can last a lifetime. On Tuesday, ABC News' chief health and medical correspondent, Dr. Richard Besser, hosted a Twitter chat to raise awareness for the seven "neglected tropical diseases" that afflict one in six people globally. Non-profit organizations, including End 7, the Carter Center and Helen Keller Institute, as well as hospitals and concerned citizens from all over the world, tweeted out their thoughts on this important topic.

Jan. 22, 2013
Health Check Interview with Dr. Paul Emerson
Published by Voice of America.
Host Linord Moudou interviews Dr. Paul Emerson about NTDs. with a specific focus on the Center's Guinea worm and trachoma work.

June 23, 2012
Nepal Sees End in Sight for Trachoma
Published by The Lancet.
Nepal is on track to eliminate the eye disease by 2014, according to a recent meeting of health experts. Amy Yee reports on the country's progress against trachoma from the city of Pokhara.

May 1, 2012
Award Recognizes Efforts of Trachoma Control Program in Eliminating Trachoma
Published on Healio.com.
Trachoma elimination programs have made considerable progress, but challenges still remain, according to Paul Emerson, Ph.D., director of the Trachoma Control Program at the Carter Center, Atlanta.

March 29, 2012
VOA's "InFocus" Segment Features Dr. Paul Emerson
Published by TV2Africa, VOA In Focus.
VOA's health correspondent Linord Moudou discusses integrated strategies for controlling trachoma with Dr. Paul Emerson, director of the Carter Center's Trachoma Control Program.

June 1, 2011
Efficacy of Latrine Promotion on Emergence of Infection with Ocular Chlamydia Trachomatis After Mass Antibiotic Treatment: A Cluster-randomized Trial
Published by International Health, 3 (2011) 75– 84. Login required for full text.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends environmental improvements such as latrine construction in the integrated trachoma control strategy, SAFE. We report a cluster-randomized trial assessing the effect of intensive latrine promotion on emergence of infection with ocular Chlamydia trachomatis after mass treatment with antibiotics.

May 4, 2011
Antiobiotics Reduce Child Mortality Rate (link no longer available)
Published by CNN.com.
New studies suggest antibiotics used to treat an eye disease can save children's lives in Ethiopia. This video highlights Ethiopia's and the Center's trachoma effort and experts in Ethiopia.

Aug. 28, 2010
Int'l Organizations Hail Nation's Health Strategy, Success (link no longer available)
Published by Walta Information.
The Lions Clubs International, the Carter Center and the International Trachoma Initiative, working in collaboration to eliminate the blinding trachoma in the Amhara State, hailed Ethiopia's health strategy and its effective implementation particularly in improving basic health care services, combating malaria and trachoma.

Nov. 2, 2009
Amhara National Regional Health Bureau and Lions-Carter Center Sightfirst Initiative Launch Third Integrated Malaria and Trachoma (Maltra) Campaign
Published by Amhara Regional Health Bureau
The MalTra campaigns are a huge joint undertaking between the Amhara National Regional State (ANRS) and Lions-Carter Center Sightfirst Initiative held twice a year to tackle two of the major scourges of humanity in Amhara region: malaria and trachoma.

Oct. 29, 2009
Antibiotics for Eye Disease are Saving Ethiopia's Children
Published by World Focus.
This video report highlights the new study that shows how an antibiotic treatment given to save children's eyesight is actually saving their lives (Run time: 4:27). Antibiotics administered for trachoma, a bacterial eye infection that is the world's leading preventable cause of blindness, are actually treating other ailments and reducing Ethiopia's high rates of child mortality. Producer Gary Strieker reports from Ethiopia's Amhara region where 60 percent of children suffer from trachoma. Distributed to PBS stations nationwide.

Sept. 1, 2009
In Ethiopia, Fighting Blindness May Prevent Deaths
Published by the Associated Press.
A study in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association suggests an unintended benefit from efforts to wipe out trachoma, the world's leading preventable cause of blindness. Read the press release: Efforts to Control Blinding Trachoma Reduce Child Mortality in Ethiopia, JAMA Study Finds >>

Aug. 24, 2009
Fighting Blindness in Ethiopia (link no longer available)
Published by Public Radio International's "The World."
Health problems that afflict the world's poor have received unprecedented attention in recent years. Governments and foundations alike are pouring billions of dollars into the fights against diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. But medical workers who focus on lesser known diseases say their efforts remain as difficult as ever. Reporter Odette Yousef of station WABE in Atlanta traveled to Ethiopia to follow the Carter Center's fight against trachoma, a leading cause of blindness in Africa.

Aug. 5, 2009
"Preventing Blindness" - CNN's Impact Your World Showcases Carter Center Trachoma Control Program
Published by CNN.
Trachoma is the world's leading cause of "preventable" blindness, yet it costs 10 million people their eyesight. The Carter Center, with partner organizations and community health workers in six African nations, is working to carry out simple solutions to prevent this disease affecting the world's poorest and most forgotten people.

June 15, 2009
Week-Long Series Highlights Center's Work to Prevent Trachoma During "MALTRA" Weeks in Ethiopia
Published by WABE 90.1 FM (Atlanta).
Tune in June 15-19, 2009, to Morning Edition on WABE 90.1 FM, Atlanta's NPR station, as Odette Yousef-who traveled with The Carter Center to Ethiopia in April 2009-reports a five-part series on work to prevent trachoma and malaria there. Beginning Monday, June 15, segments will be aired at 6:39 a.m. and again at 8:39 a.m. (EST). Click here for more series information and for archived reports. Listen live online at www.pba.org/.

June 1, 2007
The Ethiopia Campaign (PDF)
Published by Smithsonian Magazine, Reprinted with permission.
Jimmy Carter's 82 years had diminished neither his trademark smile, which could still disarm skeptics at 20 paces, nor his enthusiasm for the long chance, which had propelled this obscure peanut farmer to national prominence in the first place. That quixotic spirit took him this past February to an impoverished corner of Ethiopia, where he would announce his most audacious crusade yet: to eliminate malaria, an elusive and ever-changing killer, from this ancient African nation of 75 million people.

March 31, 2006
Preventable Disease Blinds Poor in Third World (PDF)
Published by The New York Times.
"Preventable Disease Blinds Poor in Third World" by Celia W. Dugger is the third in The New York Times "On the Brink" series of articles about five diseases - polio, Guinea worm, blinding trachoma, measles and lymphatic filariasis - that are extinct in the developed world but stubbornly persistent in some poor nations. As the diseases hover on the brink of eradication, doctors and scientists face daunting obstacles as they struggle to finish the job.

Sept. 16, 2005
Houston Chronicle Feature: Visions of Health: Carters Work to End Scourge in Ethiopia
Published by the Houston Chronicle. Posted with permission.
A motorcade of white SUVs chugged up a rocky road Thursday, and when the trucks came to a stop, former President Carter and wife Rosalynn stepped out. While cows and goats ambled past and adults lined up to pump hands, the Carters were drawn irresistibly to village children. As the Carter Center entourage milled around, the children sang songs about trachoma, the preventable blinding disease that haunts Ethiopia.

March 5, 2005
Latrine Program a Hit; Project Deals With Health, Gender
Published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
A Carter Center program to fight disease by promoting latrines has caught fire in Ethiopia. The center hoped for 10,000 new latrines last year, but villagers have built more than 90,000. Women fueled the boom in a place where tradition lets men defecate in the open during the day but asks women to wait until dark so that no one will see, said Teshome Gebre, the Carter Center's point man in Ethiopia.