Hispaniola Initiative - In The News

April 25, 2023
With the Inauguration of the Molecular Biology Laboratory at CECOVEZ, MISPAS seeks to Eliminate Malaria by 2025
The Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MISPAS) inaugurated the Malaria Molecular Biology Laboratory at the Center for Prevention and Control of Vector-Transmitted Diseases and Zoonoses (CECOVEZ) , to apply innovation and technology to surveillance and prevention of events of epidemiological interest. The director of the Onchocerciasis, Lymphatic Filariasis, Schistosomiasis and Malaria Program of the Cárter Center, Dr. Gregory Noland , also participated, who highlighted the importance of the center.

Sept. 30, 2022
EMORY + THE CARTER CENTER Celebrate 40 Years of Partnership
Published by Emory Magazine. 
The collaboration between Emory University and The Carter Center, established in 1982, has fostered an extraordinary community of scholarship and practice that has had an impact across the world, advancing peace and improving health. President Jimmy Carter, in 1996, referred to it as a “marriage that has worked out quite well.”

August 2022
Stephen Blount Obituary (PDF)
Published by the Lancet
The renowned public health specialist, who contributed to innumerable fights against infectious diseases, died on April 30, 2022. Steve was the former director of the Carter Center’s Special Health Projects, leading the Hispaniola Initiative, which seeks to eliminate malaria and lymphatic filariasis from Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and the Public Health Training Initiative, which provides training in maternal and child health for health workers in developing countries.

July 30, 2021
Summary of the 32nd Meeting of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication, May 4-5, 2021 (PDF)
Published by WHO’s Weekly Epidemiological Record, 2021, 96, 329–352 
The 32nd meeting of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication (ITFDE) was convened virtually at The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 4-5, 2021, to discuss the progress toward eliminating malaria and lymphatic filariasis in Haiti and the Dominican Republic from 2008-2020.

March 7, 2021
Abu Dhabi Institute to Help Eradicate River Blindness From the Americas
Published by National News UAE.
Indigenous people living in remote rainforests will be targeted in a new drive to eliminate river blindness from the Americas. The campaign has been funded thanks to a partnership between The Carter Center and Abu Dhabi’s Global Institute for Disease Elimination (Glide), an initiative organized by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Feb. 22, 2022
Elimination Exchange: A Conversation with Dr Greg Noland
Elimination Exchange podcast series, presented by the Global Institute for Disease Elimination (GLIDE).
Dr. Greg Noland of The Carter Center shares his reflections on the Center's Hispaniola Initiative, which works with the ministries of health in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to eliminate malaria and lymphatic filariasis from the countries' shared island, Hispaniola.

Feb. 1, 2022
Beyond borders in the Dominican Republic and Haiti 
(Spanish) (French)
Published by Global Institute of Disease Eradication (GLIDE).
This third instalment in GLIDE’s online video series launch in 2022, Eliminating Diseases features the Carter Center’s Hispaniola Initiative, which, since 2008, has assisted both countries' ministries of health by strengthening binational cooperation, providing technical assistance for elimination of both diseases, and helping to integrate activities between the countries' malaria and lymphatic filariasis programs.

April 26, 2019
Meeting of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication, January 2019 (PDF)
Published in the Weekly Epidemiological Record by the World Health Organization, 2019. Pages 204-210.
The 29th meeting of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication (ITFDE) was convened at The Carter Center, Atlanta, Ga., on Jan. 15, 2019, to discuss the strengths and limitations of official validation of disease elimination as a public health problem.

May 9, 2018
New Initiative Will Drive Atlanta’s Reputation as the Center for Global Health
Published by Global Health ATL.
The Metro Atlanta Chamber, Georgia Global Health Alliance and Deloitte announced the launch of Global Health ATL. The initiative’s priorities are to create a health innovation hub in the heart of metro Atlanta and drive impact in areas such as disease eradication, economic development and disaster response.

April 25, 2018
First Lady of Haiti Martine Moïse Commemorates World Malaria Day, Expresses Commitment to Elimination Alongside Global, Political, and Scientific Leaders (French) (Spanish)
Published by Nothing But Nets, the United Nations Foundation, Malaria No More, & Malaria Zero Alliance
Today, the First Lady of Haiti Martine Moïse and more than 300 government officials, civil society representatives, scientists and technical partners of the global health and development community gathered to celebrate World Malaria Day and increase awareness of Haiti’s commitment to eliminating malaria, a preventable yet deadly disease that threatens half the world’s population and kills a child every two minutes.

Nov. 6, 2017
Global Political and Scientific Leaders Celebrate Innovation Accelerating Malaria Elimination in the Americas
Published by Nothing but Nets, United Nations Foundation, Malaria No More.
Today, more than 100 scientists, government officials, and technical partners of the global health and development community convened to honor country programs of Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Brazil for their progress toward eliminating malaria, a preventable yet deadly disease that threatens half the world and kills a child every two minutes. The event, commemorating Malaria Day in the Americas, was held in conjunction with the 66th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).

Oct. 2, 2017
Former President Jimmy Carter Chosen as 2017 Prix Galien Pro Bono Humanum Honoree
Published by PR Newswire.
The Galien Awards Committee announced today that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter will receive the 2017 Pro Bono Humanum Award at the 11th annual Prix Galien USA Awards Ceremony, to be held on Thursday, October 26, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Fall 2017
Building a Framework for Ethics in Global Health Research
Published by Emory Public Health.
James Lavery, recently named Emory University’s first Conrad N. Hilton professor in global health ethics, wants to establish Emory as a world leader in the fast-emerging field.

May 3, 2017
Crusade Against the Evil of the Elephant’s Paw (en español)
Published by El Pais.
A global alliance works to eliminate this parasitic disease that disfigures 40 million affected members with swelling and threatens one in seven people in the world.

April 23, 2015
Haiti Revives Malaria Eradication Aim
Published by Financial Times. Subscription is required to access full text.
Half a century ago, the Dominican Republic and Haiti combined forces in a bold but ultimately unsuccessful initiative: to eliminate malaria from the island of Hispaniola. Now, despite continuing political tensions, they are uniting again for a fresh attempt.

March 23, 2015
Elimination of Malaria on Hispaniola Targeted with $29.9 Million Grant
Published by Saporta Report.
Malaria has long been intertwined in world history, with characteristic malaria symptoms noted as far back as 2700 BCE. Unfortunately, malaria today remains a deadly disease, one that also holds back economic activity. The good news is that important progress is helping to better control malaria-even eliminating indigenous cases in some parts of the world.

Feb. 24, 2015
Let's Make Malaria History in Hispaniola
Published by Impatient Optimists (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).
In 1801, Napoleon Bonaparte was reaching the peak of his power, and he was determined to recapture France's lost empire in the Americas. He dispatched 30,000 troops to Hispaniola under the command of his brother-in-law, Charles Leclerc, with the goal of defeating the Haitian Revolution that had freed the island's slaves in 1791 and deprived France of millions in sugar revenues.

Feb. 25, 2015
Consortium Aims to Rid Hispaniola of Malaria by 2020
Published by Dominican Today.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is leading a consortium of malaria partners aiming to eliminate indigenous cases of malaria on the island of Hispaniola by 2020. Acceleration of malaria elimination efforts will begin with a $29.9 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the CDC Foundation. Hispaniola, which includes the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, is the only remaining island in the Caribbean where malaria is endemic. In Haiti, where the majority of Hispaniola's malaria cases occur, there were more than 20,000 confirmed cases in 2013.

​Feb. 15, 2013
Meeting of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication, November 2012 (PDF)
Published in the Weekly Epidemiological Record by the World Health Organization, 2013, 88, 73-80.
The 20th meeting of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication (ITFDE) was convened at The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, on Nov. 27, 2012, to discuss the potential eradicability of yaws and receive an update on progress towards elimination of malaria and lymphatic filariasis from Hispaniola.   

Oct. 9, 2009
Hispaniola Leaders Aim to Eradicate Malaria (link no longer available) 
This article was distributed by the Associated Press.
The leaders of Haiti and the Dominican Republic agreed Thursday to cooperate in a campaign aimed at eradicating the last vestiges of malaria from the islands of the Caribbean by 2020.

8 de octubre 2009
Carter promueve un plan contra malaria
Este artículo fue publicado el 8 de octubre 2009 por listindario.com.
El ex presidente de Estados Unidos, Jimmy Carter, supervisó ayer el programa de erradicación de la malaria y la filariasis linfática que financia el Centro Carter en Dajabón y el municipio haitiano de Ouanaminthe.

Oct. 7, 2009
Carter Seeks to Boost Caribbean Malaria Fight (link no longer available) 
This article was distributed by the Associated Press.
Former President Jimmy Carter traveled to Haiti and the Dominican Republic to meet political leaders, health workers and malaria victims Wednesday in hopes of jump-starting efforts to eradicate the disease in the Caribbean.

March 13, 2009
Meeting of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication, October 2008 (PDF)
Published in Weekly Epidemiological Record, by the World Health Organization, 2009, 84, 85-96.
The 13th meeting of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication was convened at The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, on Oct. 29, 2008, to discuss status of the global campaigns to eliminate lymphatic filariasis and dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease), an update on efforts to eliminate malaria and lymphatic filariasis from the island of Hispaniola, and a report on the first review of buruli ulcer control programs.

Dec. 16, 2008
Haiti and Dominican Republic Urged to Fight Mosquito Illnesses Together
Published by The New York Times.
The Carter Center has called for a joint effort to eliminate two mosquito-borne diseases, malaria and lymphatic filariasis, from their last foothold in the Caribbean: the island of Hispaniola.

​Jan. 26, 2007
Meeting of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication
Published in the Weekly epidemiological record/Releve epidemiologique hebdomadaire, by the World Health Organization, No. 4, 207, 82, 25-32 (PDF)
Meeting of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication — 12 May 2006/Reunion du Groupe special international pour l'eradication des maladies — 12 mai 2006. 

April 9, 2006
Beyond Swollen Limbs, A Disease's Hidden Agony (PDF)
Published by The New York Times.
This is the fourth in The New York Times "On the Brink" series of articles about five diseases - polio, Guinea worm, blinding trachoma, measles and lymphatic filariasis - that are extinct in the developed world but stubbornly persistent in some poor nations. As the diseases hover on the brink of eradication, doctors and scientists face daunting obstacles as they struggle to finish the job. View related NYT video > | View related NYT slideshow >