First 25 Years

The Task Force for Child Survival is established by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Rockefeller Foundation, The World Bank and United Nations Development Programme to raise the global immunization levels of children. William H. Foege, M.D., is named Executive Director.

The Task Force becomes a free-standing, non-profit organization with an administrative affiliation with Emory.

The Mectizan Donation Program was established by Merck & Co., Inc., to provide medical, technical, and administrtive oversight of the donation of Mectizan for the treatment of onchocerciasis (river blindness) worldwide.

The Task Force begins program activities on polio eradication in partnership with WHO and CDC.

The global immunization levels of children rise from 20% to 80%; a 400% increase.

The Task Force’s mission was expanded to include a direct role in achieving the goals of the World Summit for Children. These goals targeted immunization rates, respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, micronutrient deficiencies, Guinea worm eradication, breastfeeding, and safe motherhood.

The Task Force, Emory University, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began the Program Against Micronutrient Malnutrition (PAMM) to advocate for national programs and institute interventions to improve micronutrient status of vitamin A, iron, and iodine. (A)

The Task Force changes its name to The Task Force for Child Survival and Development to reflect a broader sense of purpose that included the importance of developmental factors that complemented physical health in the overall well-being of children.

All Kids Count (AKC) is funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and other foundations to foster development of community-based immunization registries.

The Task Force joins a partnership of more than 50 national organizations to support the implementation of Every Child by Two, a program started by former first lady, Rosalynn Carter and Betty Bumpers, wife of former Senator Dale Bumpers of Arkansas. This campaign educated parents on the importance of early immunization and encouraged health departments to increase access to immunization services to ensure full vaccination for all children by age two.

Expands partnership on polio eradication with program on global poliovirus surveillance.

UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) joins as the sixth sponsor of the Task Force.

The Malarone Donation Program begins with support of Glaxo Wellcome for the treatment of malaria.

The Task Force and The Carter Center sponsored ChildrenFirst: A Global Forum that brought together representatives from 66 countries to create a model for change that would improve the lives of children, focusing on health, education, safety and protection, and economic security.

Official relationship with original sponsors of the Task Force ends.

AKC is funded by RWJF to assist community-based immunization registries to become fully operational.

Merck & Co., Inc., expanded the mandate of the Mectizan Program to include Mectizan for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis. GlaxoSmithKline joined in this effort with the donation of albendazole to be co-administered with Mectizan as recommended by the World Health Organization. The Mectizan Donation Program began overseeing the donation of the two drugs in areas co-endemic for both diseases in Africa and Yemen.

The Georgia Child Health Recognition Awards Program begins with the support of Glaxo Wellcome to honor individuals and health departments for improving the health status of children.

The Center for Child Well-being is established with support from RWJF to develop ways to nurture physical, cognitive, social, and emotional strengths in children.

The PARTNERS TB Control Program begins with support from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to focus on multidrug-resistant TB. Partners included the Task Force, Peruvian National Tuberculosis Control Program, WHO, CDC, Partners in Health, Socios en Salud, and members of Harvard’s Department of Social Medicine.

AKC is funded by RWJF to foster integration of health information systems.

Mark L. Rosenberg, M.D., becomes Executive Director.

A program on the national laboratory containment of polioviruses begins.

The Mectizan Donation Program celebrated its 15-year anniversary and 250 million treatments administered for river blindness.

The Lymphatic Filariasis Support Center joined the Task Force.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided an operational research grant to the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis to be managed by the Lymphatic Filariasis Support Center. This 4-year grant focuses on resolving the critical challenges confronting global efforts to eliminate this disabling disease.

By this year, more than 600 million treatments had been approved for river blindness and 150 million treatments for lymphatic filariasis. Colombia became the first country to eliminate transmission of river blindness.

*The Pan American Health Organization created a new resolution for the elimination of transmission of river blindness in the Americas by 2012. To date, the disease has been eliminated in seven of the 13 focal areas in the Americas, and there is no new disease caused by river blindness in eight of the 13 focal areas. This success is now paving the way for the possibility of the elimination of river blindness in Africa and Yemen.