Health and Peace Program Donors

The Carter Center Health and Peace Programs appreciate the continued support of our foundation, government, and corporate donors and are pleased to highlight their contributions in these regular Web features.

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

Featured June 2009

The Carter Center is proud to announce a new collaborative effort with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in the fight against trachoma.  As part of a $15 million renewed commitment to trachoma in August 2008, the Hilton Foundation pledged $10 million to The Carter Center for the Trachoma Control Program in Mali, Niger, Ghana, and Southern Sudan.  The grant challenges donor organizations and individuals to provide an additional $10 million in support for The Carter Center's efforts to prevent trachoma over the course of five years, which the Hilton Foundation will match on a one-to-one basis.  These funds will be used to reduce trachoma by working in partnership with the national Ministries of Health in these African countries.  Approximately 26 million people in four of the most impoverished sub-Saharan African countries will have the hope of living free of the anguish and burden of blinding trachoma.

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is a philanthropic organization which seeks to alleviate the suffering of the world's most disadvantaged persons, especially children.  Founded in 1944 by hotel entrepreneur and business leader Conrad N. Hilton, the foundation supports initiatives that include safe water development, disaster relief and recovery, housing for the mentally ill, and substance abuse prevention.  A shared dedication to improving health prompted the partnership between The Carter Center and the Hilton Foundation in 1991.  Since then, the Hilton Foundation has supported the Trachoma Control, Guinea Worm Eradication, River Blindness, and Mental Health Programs.  This new challenge grant continues the Hilton Foundation's history of leadership in trachoma control in Africa.

Trachoma is the world's leading cause of preventable blindness.  The World Health Organization estimates that six million people are blind due to trachoma, and an additional 1.2 billion in 57 endemic countries are at risk of blindness or severe visual impairment.  Trachoma is caused by repeated infections of the eye and eyelid by bacteria transmitted by flies or household cloths.  The disease can be prevented or treated through the utilization of the SAFE strategy:  Surgery, Antibiotics (Zithromax®, donated by Pfizer Inc), Facial cleanliness, and Environment improvements (such as the provision of latrines).

With the generous support of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, it is possible to prevent the blindness and suffering caused by trachoma in millions of individuals.  This collaboration between the Hilton Foundation and The Carter Center contributes to the prosperity and stability of these endemic nations through ending the burden of blinding trachoma

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