The Carter Center Atlanta, United States of America

The Carter Center, in partnership with Emory University, is guided by a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering; it seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health.

The Carter Center is guided by five principles:

• The Center emphasizes action and results. Based on careful research and analysis, it is prepared to take timely action on important and pressing issues;
• The Center does not duplicate the effective efforts of others;
• The Center addresses difficult problems and recognizes the possibility of failure as an acceptable risk;
• The Center is nonpartisan and acts as a neutral in dispute resolution activities;
• The Center believes that people can improve their lives when provided with the necessary skills, knowledge, and access to resources.

The Carter Center collaborates with other organizations, public and private, in carrying out its mission.

In 2007, the program aims to extend LF treatments to approximately 3.6 million persons in all 30 LGAs of two states in Nigeria, Plateau and Nasarawa. The Carter Center will monitor treatment coverage through standard reporting as well as coverage surveys. In addition, it will continue to collect information on sentinel villages, conducting impact studies on manifestations of disease. . This effort will focus on measuring rates of antigenemia in the blood using immunochromatographic tests. In addition, The Carter Center will begin assessing for LF prevalence in 16 local government areas (LGAs) of three southeastern states which are coendemic for malaria but are not receiving treatment for onchocerciasis and LF. Drug distribution in these LGAs is not possible due to the high prevalence of Loa loa, another parasitic infection which causes sufferers to have adverse reactions to LF treatment (including coma and death). In three pilot LGAs within these states, The Carter Center will distribute long-life insecticide-treated bed nets (LLINs) in a new effort to fight LF without mass drug administration. Longitudinal data will be collected in these LGAs to determine if LLINs, which are known to have an impact on malaria, also reduce LF prevalence.