The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.
A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve lives in more than 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care.
As part of its neglected disease prevention work, The Carter Center, in partnership with the national programs, seeks to eliminate blinding trachoma in seven African countries: Ethiopia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda. In partnership with Lions Clubs International Foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Pfizer Inc, International Trachoma Initiative, ministries of health, and multiple nongovernmental organizations and universities, the Center helps implement the SAFE strategy—surgery, antibiotics, facial cleanliness, and environmental change.
The Carter Center has supported approximately 25 percent of the total global output of trichiasis surgeries, which are performed in local communities by trained health workers. More than 113 million doses of Zithromax®, donated by Pfizer Inc, have been distributed in Carter Center-supported areas, which represents one-third of the global donated distribution. The Carter Center focuses on health education to increase facial cleanliness and latrine construction and usage in more than 12,000 villages. The Carter Center has assisted in the construction of approximately 3.1 million household pit latrines since 2002.
