Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Speaks to Journalists

Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter held a press conference with Minister of Health Tewodros Adhanom on Tuesday, February 13 in Addis Ababa. President Carter had just returned from a visit to Afeta, a community of 7,500 people in the Jimma Zone, where he distributed long-lasting insecticide-impregnated bed nets. The symbolic action was part of a new malaria control initiative in Ethiopia by the Carter Center. Malaria is Ethiopia’s single largest cause of death.

“Malaria preys on Ethiopia’s youth, destroying lives and jeopardizing the country’s future,” said President Carter. “It is our goal to help provide long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets, free of charge, to all members of at-risk communities to help put a stop to the needless deaths caused by this mosquito-transmitted disease.”

To help the Ethiopia Ministry of Health in its goal to protect 50 million Ethiopians at risk for malaria with long-lasting insecticide-treated nets by July 2007, The Carter Center purchased 3 million bed nets to contribute to the total 20 million bed nets that are needed to accomplish this goal. The Carter Center will assist in the distribution of nets and in health education programs to help protect 18 million men, women, and children in more than 100 districts (woredas) and several hundred Kebeles in malaria-prone areas. Distribution of these long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets began in January 2007. The same community-based networks which were established for river blindness and trachoma control programs in Ethiopia funded through The Carter Center are being used for the malaria control initiative.

The Carter Center’s work in Ethiopia has been extremely diverse, involving disease control and eradication programs for river blindness and trachoma, agriculture and food security development programs, conflict mediation, health education and training, elections monitoring, and the promotion of human rights. During his visit, to Ethiopia President Carter also attended a conference of the Ethiopian Public Health Training Initiative in Addis Ababa. This conference was held to illustrate the outstanding effect the program has had in helping Ethiopia meet its growing need for trained health care workers.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Ethiopia has supported the Carter Center with $12 million in funding for the Ethiopian Public Health Training Initiative, which has trained health care professionals such as Health Extension Workers, laboratory technicians, nurses, and environmental sanitation experts. USAID also worked with the Carter Center in their response to the 2006 flood emergency in Ethiopia.