The Carter Center To Receive 2006 Gates Award For Global Health

Main Category: Aid / Disasters
Also Included In: Lymphology/Lymphedema
Article Date: 17 May 2006 - 0:00 PDT

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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced today that The Carter Center has been selected to receive the 2006 Gates Award for Global Health, in recognition of its pioneering work to fight neglected diseases such as Guinea worm, river blindness, trachoma, schistosomiasis, and lymphatic filariasis.

The $1 million Gates Award - the world's largest prize for international health - honors extraordinary efforts to improve health in developing countries. The Carter Center was selected from more than 60 nominees by a jury of international health leaders. Bill Gates, Sr., co-chair of the Gates Foundation, will present the award to John Moores, chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Carter Center, at the Global Health Council's 33rd Annual International Conference on Global Health in Washington, D.C. on June 1, 2006. Former President Jimmy Carter, founder of the Carter Center, will speak at the conference's closing plenary session on June 2.

"For more than two decades, The Carter Center has worked to control and eradicate diseases that afflict the poorest of the poor," said Bill Gates, Sr. "I have seen first-hand the extraordinary impact of The Carter Center's health programs. This award is a tribute not only to the leadership of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, but also to the Center's very competent and dedicated staff."

Founded in 1982, The Carter Center is a nongovernmental organization dedicated to advancing human rights and alleviating human suffering worldwide. One program, the Carter Center Guinea Worm Eradication Program, has helped to reduce cases of the disease from an estimated 3.5 million in 1986 to just 10,674 in 2005. Guinea worm is expected to become the second disease, after smallpox, to be eradicated worldwide, and the Center also expects to eliminate river blindness in the Americas by 2010.

"I am honored to accept this award on behalf of our staff, partners, and volunteers, and most importantly, the people we serve," said Jimmy Carter. "Together with our partners, we can win the battle against preventable diseases and unnecessary suffering."

The Carter Center's global health achievements to date include:

-- Reducing the incidence of Guinea worm disease by 99.5%

-- Delivering more than 75 million treatments for river blindness

-- Establishing more than 4,000 community-based prevention programs for trachoma, the largest preventable cause of blindness

-- Leading campaigns to control and treat lymphatic filariasis and schistosomiasis

-- Training health workers needed to serve 90% of Ethiopia's population

"Before The Carter Center began its work, diseases like Guinea worm and river blindness were seen as intractable - a fact of life in the world's poorest countries," said Dr. Nils Daulaire, President and CEO of the Global Health Council. "The Carter Center has turned conventional wisdom on its head, and reminded the world that seemingly impossible obstacles can be overcome with the right combination of innovation, dedication, and community involvement." The Global Health Council coordinates the selection process and presentation for the Gates Award.

About the Gates Award for Global Health

The Gates Award for Global Health was established by Bill and Melinda Gates in 2000 to recognize exemplary work in international health.

Previous recipients of the Gates Award include the African Medical and Research Foundation for improving health in some of Africa's poorest communities (2005); the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee for community-based health programs (2004); the Brazilian National AIDS Program for its integrated approach to HIV prevention and treatment (2003); the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International for contributions to polio eradication (2002); and the ICDDR,B Center for Health and Population Research in Bangladesh for the discovery of a rehydration therapy that has saved millions of lives (2001).

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to reduce inequities and improve lives around the world. In developing countries, it focuses on improving health, reducing extreme poverty, and increasing access to technology in public libraries. In the United States, the foundation seeks to ensure that all people have access to a great education and to technology in public libraries. In its local region, it focuses on improving the lives of low-income families. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Patty Stonesifer and co-chairs William H. Gates Sr., Bill Gates, and Melinda French Gates.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, http://www.gatesfoundation.org

The Carter Center, http://www.cartercenter.org

Global Health Council, http://www.globalhealth.org

About The Carter Center

The Carter Center is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University. Based in Atlanta, the Center has improved the quality of life for people in more than 65 countries through projects advancing peace and health worldwide.

The Carter Center's global health achievements and ongoing programs include the following:

-- The Center spearheads the international effort to eradicate Guinea worm disease, which is poised to become the next disease since smallpox to be wiped off the face of the earth. Cases have been reduced from an estimated 3.5 million in 1986 to 10,674 in 2005, rejuvenating communities throughout the continent.

-- Improved sanitation and hygiene is critical to public health and overall development. As part of the Center's trachoma control efforts, more than 200,000 latrines were built in Ethiopia since 2004, transforming life in those communities.

-- The Center has assisted in the delivery of more than 75 million treatments in 11 river blindness-endemic countries in Latin America and Africa since 1996. The Carter Center is leading the drive to eradicate this debilitating disease where it occurs in the Americas by the end of the decade.

-- Building on village-based drug distribution systems now in place in Nigeria to prevent river blindness, the Center also is reducing incidences of the parasitic disease schistosomiasis, enhancing children's abilities to grow, develop, and learn.

-- The same health care delivery infrastructure in Nigeria also is helping to prevent and treat lymphatic filariasis, a disfiguring and shame-ridden disease afflicting the poorest of the poor.

-- In some countries, the biggest factor to poor health is lack of access to trained health personnel. By strengthening the training of Ethiopian public health staff, 90 percent of the people in this large African country who live in less developed rural areas now have greater access to basic disease prevention and health care services.

-- More than 4 million small-scale farmers in 15 Sub-Saharan African countries have learned improved agricultural techniques to double or triple grain production, growing more food for their families and boosting local economies.

-- Because mental and physical health are interconnected, the Center has led international efforts to reduce stigma and discrimination against people with mental illnesses and to achieve greater equity for mental health in the health care system.

-- The Center is the base for the International Task Force for Disease Eradication. The group has reviewed more than 100 infectious diseases and identified six as potentially eradicable.

During the past 25 years, the Center's activities have been recognized with more than 16 prestigious awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1999) and the International Child Survival Award (1999). For his commitment to humanitarian efforts, President Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

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