Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter & Pfizer commemorate the 15th Anniversary of International Trachoma Initiative
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter joined Pfizer today to commemorate the 15th Anniversary of the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI), an independent, not-for-profit program dedicated to the elimination of blinding trachoma as a public health concern. Trachoma is an infectious eye disease that is a leading cause of blindness and suffering in the poorest regions of the world. Pfizer has provided hundreds of millions of doses of the antibiotic Zithromax(R) (azithromycin) to help the global campaign wipe out blinding trachoma by the year 2020.
“The Pfizer donation of Zithromax was momentous in trachoma control, and The Carter Center was pleased to go to scale in trachoma endemic countries to get the medicine into the villages and demonstrate the world could end blinding trachoma,” President Carter said during a celebration with partners, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and Pfizer employees at the company’s headquarters in Manhattan.
“The progress and success of the trachoma campaign is something every Pfizer colleague can be proud of. Through the 15-year partnership, millions of people worldwide will be spared the injustice, indignity and pain of their eyelashes scratching and scarring their eyes,” added President Carter, founder of The Carter Center, a pioneer in disease eradication and elimination activities.
Source: The Wall Street Journal (link opens in a new window)
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