Empowered volunteers war against neglected diseases in Plateau, Niger, FCT

In collaboration with local government and organizations, The Carter Center launched an initiative to curb the spread of neglected tropical diseases, like river blindness. Throughout the initiative, the Center provided health education to rural communities most affected by the disease and also led a mass drug administration of Mectizan, which is known to kill the parasite that causes river blindness. Over 20 years, the Center administered 27 million doses of the medication, effectively eliminating the disease.

Liberia's community health worker program taps residents of rural areas to receive training in disease surveillance and basic health care, creating a network of on-the-ground professionals to report potential outbreaks before they begin to spread. The program has contributed to more rapid treatment of malaria cases, with 71 percent of cases treated within 24 hours in 2021, and has significantly increased the number of rural residents with access to care.

The Carter Center, in collaboration with other organizations, launched a project to curb several neglected tropical diseases like river blindness. The Center and its partners provide health education through monthly visits from medical personnel to rural communities that are often most affected by these diseases and administer the necessary medication to fight the illnesses. Over the course of more than 20 years, the Center has delivered 27 million doses of disease-fighting medicine.

In Bauchi, Nigeria, Community Health Influencers, Promoters and Services (CHIPS) conduct home visits, screen for hypertension, and detect tropical diseases in communities where healthcare is hard to access. In Bauchi alone, the program has screened over 1.2 million people, identified approximately 54,000 hypertensive patients, and treated 67 cases of neglected tropical diseases within a single year.

Over 2,000 community health workers are distributing rapid diagnostic tests to pregnant women to help diagnose and treat malaria. The health workers also refer patients to further treatment as needed. In 2022 alone, they treated over 130,000 people.

Boda boda motorcycle taxi riders have become frontline HIV health advocates through the LISTEN (Local Innovation Scaled Through Enterprise Network) Community of Practice. Trained in HIV self-testing, prevention methods and counseling, the riders hold monthly awareness days, operate two community testing stations, and distribute preventive items to the public. Since the initiative began in 2019, the association has reached approximately 10,000 people, referred 2,000 for antiretroviral treatment and tested around 400 people per month.

The world’s first malaria vaccine was introduced in a pilot program in 2019 and found to reduce severe cases of malaria by 22%. Since then, the vaccine has been rolled out to several regions and has administered more than 1.8 million doses throughout the country, which has contributed to reducing prevalence rates from 27% in 2015, to 3.6% today.

The Kenya Medical Research Institute is leading research teams with the ministry of health in an effort to educate people on how to use mosquito nets to reduce the rate of malaria. Through these efforts, malaria cases reduced by 24% six months after the program started.

With rapid diagnostic tests, Nigerians with malaria symptoms can get a quicker diagnosis at a lower cost, especially in regions where lab-based testing is not available. The tests have made it easier to get a diagnosis in places where malaria is prevalent, but many Nigerians still don't know the tests are an option or choose to self-medicate due to lack of trust in the local health system.

Facing a measles outbreak in a vaccine-hesitant community, Shasta County public health officials contained the spread by routing their response through trusted local intermediaries, including school principals, church leaders and clinic managers, rather than just relying on government messaging. The approach combined rapid contact tracing with a non-judgmental communication strategy designed to work with, rather than against, residents skeptical of government authority. Within two and a half months, the outbreak was declared over, with only nine confirmed cases total.