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Health as a Human Right
A world leader in the eradication and elimination of diseases, The Carter Center fights six preventable diseases — Guinea worm, river blindness, trachoma, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, and malaria — by using health education and simple, low-cost prevention and treatment methods. We also strive to improve access to mental health care and support caregivers.
These efforts have brought better disease surveillance and health care delivery systems to resource-limited countries. Because communities often are burdened by several diseases, we also are pioneering new public health approaches to efficiently and effectively treat multiple diseases at once.
Featured Event
Mental Health in the Workplace
We believe access to health care is a human right, especially among poor people afflicted with disease who are forgotten, ignored, and often without hope.
Focus Areas
The Carter Center’s health programs fill vacuums in global health, helping to prevent needless suffering and build hope for millions of the world’s poorest people.
Guinea Worm Disease
There is no medicine to cure or vaccine to prevent Guinea worm disease, a parasitic infection. But since we made the bold decision in 1986 to lead the international eradication campaign, cases have dropped from an estimated 3.5 million a year to just a handful annually.
Lymphatic Filariasis
A debilitating parasitic disease, lymphatic filariasis is caused by thin worms transmitted to humans by mosquitoes in tropical and subtropical regions. We distribute the drugs that protect millions from this infection.
Malaria
In the Caribbean, this deadly tropical disease still exists on one island: Hispaniola — home to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. We partner with the ministries of health in both countries to stop malaria’s spread.
Mental Health and Caregivers
We work to combat stigma, expand access to mental health care, and support caregivers through the Rosalynn Carter Mental Health and Caregiver Program, named in honor of the former first lady’s lifelong championing of these issues.
River Blindness
River blindness, a parasitic disease transmitted by infected black flies that breed near rivers and streams, causes rashes, severe itching, skin discoloration, and, in serious cases, vision impairment or blindness. We work with health ministries in Latin America and Africa to eliminate it.
Schistosomiasis
A waterborne parasitic infection, schistosomiasis, or “snail fever,” damages internal organs. We partner with Nigeria's Ministry of Health to combat it, delivering medicine that can reverse most of its damage.
Trachoma
A bacterial eye infection found in poor, isolated communities that lack basic hygiene or clean water, trachoma is easily transmittable and can result in blindness if left untreated. We work with partners to provide education, medicine, surgical procedures and more to control this disease.
By the Numbers
100M
Impact: The Center-led Guinea worm eradication campaign has averted more than 100 million cases of this devastating disease among the world’s poorest people.
1B
Treatment: The Carter Center has assisted in the distribution of more than 1 billion doses of medicine to prevent NTDs.
22
Partnerships: We have assisted 22 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America in the elimination of at least one disease.
40+
Since our founding in 1982, we have led health initiatives in more than 40 countries.
Our Strategy
Our work is diverse, but our approach is constant — we place an emphasis on building partnerships for change with international agencies, governments, nongovernmental organizations, corporations, national ministries of health, and most of all, with people at the grass roots.
We help people acquire the tools, knowledge, and resources they need to transform their own lives, building a more peaceful, healthier, and better world for us all.
Research, Publications & News
Read the latest Carter Center publications highlighting strategies, research, and progress toward elimination.
Spotlight on Health
Guinea Worms Live on Borrowed Time in Ethiopia
Omod Ogebo peeled the bandages from his patient’s thigh, took hold of a small, twisted piece of gauze, and began carefully unwinding the creature wrapped insi…
Carter Center Launches New Website
Mental Health Care Transformation
Global Impact Starts with You
Your support sustains the Carter Center's mission of waging peace, fighting disease, and building hope around the world.
