2023 Major Media Highlights

Read the latest news coverage on The Carter Center, our experts, and our work around the world.

Opinion: This Was a Terrible Year, and Also Maybe the Best One Yet for Humanity (New York Times)

The New York Times

Two horrifying diseases are close to eradication: polio and Guinea worm disease. Learn more »

Remembering First Lady Rosalynn Carter & Leonard Bernstein (Library of Congress)

The Library of Congress

While our nation continues to mourn the loss of First Lady Rosalynn Carter (1927-2023), here in the Music Division, we are reflecting on her lasting relationships with artists, performers, and creators, both during her time in The White House and the decades that followed. Learn more »

Opinion: No, 2023 Wasn’t All Bad, And Here Are 23 Reasons Why Not (Washington Post)

Washington Post

Only 13 human cases were reported last year, down from millions in the 1980s. The terrible disease is caused by drinking contaminated water. Former president Jimmy Carter hoped to outlive the Guinea worm, and he just might. Learn more »

CNN | CNN Heroes Legacy Award: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter

Martin Sheen presented the first-ever CNN Heroes Legacy Award to former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. Their granddaughter, Dr. Sarah Carter, accepted the award on their behalf. Learn more »

CNN | ‘He Never Ceases to Surprise Us’: Celebrating 99 Years of Jimmy Carter

As former U.S. President Jimmy Carter turns 99 some seven months after he entered hospice, the CEO of The Carter Center, Paige Alexander, reflects on his life and legacy. Learn more »

The Guardian | Jimmy Carter to Celebrate 99th Birthday with Digital Mosaic from Well-wishers

The Carter Center is celebrating President Carter's 99th birthday in a unique way. More than 14,000 people have submitted birthday messages and pictures for a digital mosaic honoring Carter’s life and legacy. Learn more »

Time | Jimmy Carter's Secret to Living to 99, According to His Grandson

As Jimmy Carter, America’s longest-living president, turns 99 on Oct. 1, his grandson shares what he believes is the secret to his grandfather’s long life: exercise. Learn more »

NBC Today Show | Jimmy Carter Turns 99: 4 Longevity Lessons From the Former President’s Long Life

“They’re coming to the end, but they’re together,” says grandson Jason Carter. “And this is exactly as you would want this last chapter to play out.” Learn more »

Jimmy Carter Closes in on Decades-Long Goal: Eradicating Guinea Worm (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

One of his [last] wishes, he said, was to see the Guinea worm disease finally be eradicated. Learn more »

GMA3 | Jimmy Carter’s Grandson Pays Tribute Ahead of His 99th Birthday

Published by GMA3

Former President Jimmy Carter’s grandson and Center Board Chair Jason Carter pays tribute to his grandfather and provides an update on his health. President Carter turns 99 on Oct. 1. Learn more »

Smallpox: Gone but Not Forgotten

Published by Pushkin.

Hear from the Carter Center's Donald Hopkins as he takes us back to the 1960s in Sierra Leone, where he discovered that successfully eradicating smallpox could be a feasible goal worldwide. Learn more »

BBC News | Zimbabwe Election President Rejects Election Criticism (Interview with Democracy Program Director David Carroll)

Published by BBC.

Carter Center expert David Carroll, who leads the Center’s initiative on standards and best practices in international election observation, discusses Zimbabwe’s election and key findings from Carter Center observers. Learn more »

Carter Center CEO Paige Alexander Is 'Willing to Go Where Others Are Not'

Published by Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Atlanta Business Chronicle names Carter Center CEO Paige Alexander a recipient of their Most Admired CEO Awards which highlight leaders who propel the performance of their organization and strengthen the fabric of the Atlanta community. Learn more »

State Affairs Georgia | A Year after Passage, More is Happening with the Mental Health Parity Act Than You Think. (PDF)

Published by State Affairs Georgia.

Eve Byrd, director of Mental Health Programs for the Carter Center, said her team has made some recommendations for improving the insurance department’s new site, “so that it’s more consumer-friendly and includes language accessibility, which is mandated in the Parity Act.” Learn more »

Carter Center Celebrates Trachoma Elimination Milestone in Mali

Published by Voice of America.

In May, the World Health Organization certified that the countries of Benin and Mali had eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. Six countries in Africa have reached that milestone. The Carter Center believes its program in Mali has helped avert blindness in more than 5 million people, and the antibiotics used to combat trachoma also help prevent infant mortality, the Center said. Learn more »

Newsweek: Paige Alexander Op-ed: Women, Youth Hold Key to Peace in Sudan

Published by Newsweek.

A deadly competition between two rival generals in Sudan has derailed anticipated prospects for a transition to civilian rule. As always, it is the Sudanese people who are paying the price, with hundreds of civilians killed or wounded, and more than a million people internally displaced or crossing as refugees into neighboring countries. Learn more »

Blank Foundation, One of the South’s Biggest Philanthropies, Puts Focus on Housing, Environment, and More

Published by Philanthropy.

While the plan for the foundation’s mental health and well being is not final, it has made some awards that signal its approach. Among them: a $500,000 grant to the Carter Center to ensure landmark mental-health legislation signed into law in 2022 in Georgia helps as many state residents as possible. Blank, who is also owner of the Atlanta Falcons football and Atlanta United soccer teams, has had a long relationship with former president Jimmy Carter, said Paige Alexander, the Carter Center’s chief executive. She credited the Blank foundation with “seeing what’s on the horizon” and understanding that Covid has had an impact on the mental health of people from all walks of life. Learn more »

People: Rosalynn Carter’s Tireless Advocacy on Topics of Mental Health and Caregiving Comes Full Circle

The former first lady's public dementia diagnosis is keeping mental health and caregiving — two topics she's dedicated her career to — at the forefront of the American conversation. Learn more »

ABC News: Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter Diagnosed With Dementia

The wife of former President Jimmy Carter “continues to live happily at home with her husband, enjoying spring ... and visits with loved ones,” the Carter Center said. Learn more »

GPB: Rosalynn Carter Has Worked Decades to Reduce the Stigma of Mental Illness. Here's a Timeline

Mrs. Carter has been the nation’s leading mental health advocate for more than half a century — first in the Georgia governor’s mansion, then in the White House and later at The Carter Center. Learn more »

The Carter Center Continues its Work to Eradicate a Blinding Bacterial Infection

Published by WABE.

Recently, The Carter Center announced that trachoma is no longer a public health problem in Mali. Kelly Callahan, the director of The Carter Center's Trachoma Control Program, stated that people simply need access to resources and tools that will change their lives. In this episode of WABE's “Closer Look” with Rose Scott, Callahan discusses the Center's global fight to eliminate the highly contagious, preventable tropical disease. Learn more »

AARP: Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter Has Dementia

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, 95, has dementia, the Carter family announced on May 30. Dementia, which is not a disease but rather a cluster of symptoms that impact thinking and memory skills severely enough to interfere with daily life, affects about 1 in 10 older Americans. Learn more »

Good Morning America: Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter Diagnosed with Dementia, Carter Center Announces

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter has been diagnosed with dementia, The Carter Center announced on Tuesday. "She continues to live happily at home with her husband, enjoying spring in Plains and visits with loved ones," The Carter Center said in a statement. Learn more »

New York Times: Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter Has Dementia

Rosalynn Carter, the wife of former President Jimmy Carter and a longtime advocate for greater access to mental health care, has dementia, the Carter Center said on Tuesday. The announcement came just over three months after it said that Jimmy Carter, 98, had entered hospice care at the couple’s home in Plains, Ga. Learn more »

PBS NewsHour: How Rosalynn Carter Reduced Stigma Around Mental Health

Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter has been diagnosed with dementia. That news comes about three months after it was announced her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, was moving into hospice care. Caregiving has been a major focus of Mrs. Carter’s life and work. William Brangham looks at that legacy and the impact dementia has on millions of families. Learn more »

Dracunculiasis Eradication: Global Surveillance Summary, 2022

World Health Organization

In accordance with the recommendations of the International Commission for the Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication (ICCDE), WHO has certified 200 countries, areas and territories (including 188 WHO Member States) as free of transmission of dracunculiasis (Guinea-worm disease). Learn more »

Donate Now

Sign Up For Email

Please sign up below for important news about the work of The Carter Center and special event invitations.

Please leave this field empty
Now, we invite you to Get Involved
Back To Top