Special Report: President Carter, IMA staff discuss LF eradication

IMA staff members Abdel Dirény, M.D. and Ann Varghese were invited guests at The Carter Center's October 8th gathering in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, attended by Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn.

The meeting allowed a select group of funding representatives and public health experts to review progress in eradicating two diseases, malaria and lymphatic filariasis (LF), in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. IMA's work in Haiti to eliminate LF, a disfiguring parasitic disease that often results in elephantiasis, was recognized during the meeting by Dr. Alex Larsen, Minister of Health, and Dr. Vely Jean-Francois, Director of Malaria and LF Programs for the Ministry of Health.

During the Carters' two-day visit, bi-national efforts were announced to eliminate malaria in both countries. In addition, the Ministry of Health of Haiti announced its goal to eradicate LF by 2020, at a cost of nearly $50 million, with major support from USAID and The Gates Foundation, and technical assistance from IMA World Health.

"With USAID funding through RTI International, IMA World Health began this work in Haiti in 2008," said Dr. Dirény, Country Manager for IMA's Haiti office, which coordinates mass drug administration (MDA) programs to provide treatment and prevention for LF. "We began in 26 communes with a treatment goal of 1.3 million persons. By December 2009, IMA will scale up to 62 communes. Our eventual goal is 106 of the 138 communes in Haiti, with a treatment goal of 5 million persons."

President Carter pledged to help raise awareness and funding to carry out this important work, and he urged participants to continue their collaborative work to eliminate malaria and LF.