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Carter Center receives $2 million for river blindness program

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Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today accepted a $2 million contribution from the Lions Clubs to the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program.

ATLANTA — Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today announced a $2 million contribution from the Lions Clubs International Foundation to the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas, a program sponsored by the Carter Center.

According to a press release from the center, the contribution from the Lions will be matched one-for-one by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of a $10 million challenge grant for support of the Center’s efforts to eradicate onchocerciasis. The grant challenges the Center to raise $5 million in matching funds to secure a total of $15 million for the project, the release said. The Lions Clubs International Foundation’s contribution raises the total level of donations to more than $3.65 million to date, according to the release.

It has been estimated that twice-annual treatments with Mectizan (ivermectin, Merck), if given to 85% or more of people in an endemic area who are infected with the parasites that cause onchocerciasis, could eradicate the disease in the Americas.

For more on onchocerciasis control, click here.