By spearheading eradication and elimination programs, The Carter Center works to wipe out preventable diseases in ways that help people acquire the tools, knowledge, and resources they need to transform their own lives.
Learn about five Carter Center health programs working to make preventable diseases a distant memory.
International Task Force for Disease Eradication: Area supervisor Paulo Lovul and village volunteer Aleper Akol Naparinga teach South Sudanese children how to avoid contracting Guinea worm disease. Guinea worm is one of eight diseases identified by the Center’s International Task Force for Disease Eradication (ITFDE) as eradicable. The task force, made up of scientists and international health organizations, evaluates disease control and prevention efforts and recommends action steps. (Photo: The Carter Center/ L. Gubb)
Guinea Worm Eradication Program: Akouma Witchikitike endures the removal of a Guinea worm from her foot in northern Togo, 2001. With assistance from the Center’s Guinea Worm Eradication Program and partners, Togo and 16 other formerly endemic countries have eliminated Guinea worm disease, and millions of cases are averted each year. (Photo: The Carter Center/ E. Staub)
River Blindness Elimination Program: Through education, surveillance, and community-based drug treatment, The Carter Center and partners have nearly eliminated river blindness from Latin America, and elimination programs are underway in several African countries including Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan, and Uganda. Above, a health worker in Chiapas, Mexico, examines Irene Hernandez Perez’s scalp for nodules symptomatic of the disease. Mexico announced elimination of river blindness in October 2015, as verified by the World Health Organization. (Photo: The Carter Center/ E. Staub)
Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Program: 42-year-old Joseph Gondovo contracted lymphatic filariasis (LF) when he was very young. Due to the disfigurement of his leg caused by the disease he never married and relies on his parents for care and support. By wiping out transmission of LF from two states in Nigeria, Africa’s most LF-endemic country, The Carter Center has helped demonstrate that elimination of the disease is within reach. (Photo: The Carter Center/ E. Staub)
Hispaniola Initiative: The Carter Center's Hispaniola Initiative works with the ministries of health in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to accelerate the elimination of malaria and lymphatic filariasis from the countries' shared island, Hispaniola, by 2020. Above, Haitians heading to Dajabon, Dominican Republic, for the weekly market cross the Massacre River that separates the two countries. (Photo: The Carter Center/ P. DiCampo)
