News & Publications

River Blindness Program - In the News


4 January 2008
Carter Center, Partners, Celebrate 100 Millionth Mectizan® Treatment
The Carter Center's River Blindness Program, with its global partners, announced recently the 100 millionth treatment of Mectizan® since 1996. The drug, proven effective and safe in treatment and prevention of river blindness, also called onchocerciasis, is donated by Merck & Co., Inc.  


20 November 2007
Colombia is First Country to Interrupt Transmission of River Blindness
Colombia has become the first country to interrupt transmission of onchocerciasis (also known as river blindness) on a countrywide basis, according to officials of the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program in the Americas (OEPA).

13 March 2007
National Public Radio: A Doctor's Lifelong Commitment to Fight Diseases (PDF)
Dr. Frank Richards specializes in the infectious diseases that are rampant in developing countries, especially diseases that target children.

20 February 2007
New York Times Feature: Let's Start a War, One We Can Win
They were two old men, one arriving by motorcade with bodyguards and the other groping blindly as he shuffled on a footpath with a stick, but for a moment the orbits of Jimmy Carter and Mekonnen Leka intersected on this remote battlefield in southern Ethiopia. Click here for official reprint (PDF).

18 February 2007
New York Times Feature: Torture By Worms
Presidents are supposed to be strong, and on his latest visit to Africa Jimmy Carter proved himself strong enough to weep.

11 Apr 2005
Emory Report Feature: Moses Katabarwa
Note: This article originally appeared in the April 11, 2005, issue of Emory Report. Reprinted with permission.  
 

9 Oct 2005
Houston Chronicle Feature:  River Blindness—A Forgotten Disease
A forgotten disease: With the help of a Houston billionaire, an ex-president and an army of volunteers, millions of Africans will be spared from river blindness.