Press Room

 

September  29, 2011 (New York) - On Friday, September 23rd former First Lady Rosalynn Carter participated in a roundtable event, hosted by the RAND Corporation's African First Ladies Initiative, to share her lifetime work as an advocate for childhood immunizations.  The event was attended by First Ladies Mathato Mosisili of Lesotho, Penehupifo Pohamba of Namibia, Sia Nyama Koroma of Sierra Leone, Viviane Wade of Senegal, Sophia Martelly of Haiti, and Eloise Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Lady Ida Odinga, wife of Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

 

RAND's African First Ladies Initiative partners with first ladies, in support of their efforts to become champions of change in their own countries on issues related to the Millennium Development Goals. Mrs. Carter, joined by former First Lady of Arkansas Mrs. Betty Bumpers and Mrs. Cherie Blair, wife of former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, shared their experiences in developing a lasting legacy.

 

In 1991, Mrs. Carter and Mrs. Bumpers, co-founded Every Child By Two in response to a measles resurgence in the U.S. Their work transformed the national immunization system by addressing inequities in immunization access for children living in poverty and ensuring that all children were fully immunized by age two. Mrs. Bumpers joined Mrs. Carter in sharing with their fellow first ladies how Every Child By Two worked with US political leaders, their spouses, community leaders and national organizations to develop coalitions, build momentum and mobilize support to raise U.S. immunization rates from below 50 to nearly 80% in the United States. 

 

The Task Force project team, AMMRIRIA (Accelerated Measles Mortality Reduction Improving Routine Immunizations in Africa) worked with RAND's African First Ladies Initiative, to engage Mrs. Carter in the event.  AMMRIRIA is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project team, led by Dr. Alan R. Hinman, engages high-level advocacy to foster dialogue among national and international partners in promoting equitable vaccine access in the region. The focus of this dialogue is to ensure full immunization of all children, enable attainment of Millennium Development Goal 4, and enhance Pan African teamwork to assure adequate commitment of the resources needed to accomplish these tasks. The project works in support of the Measles Initiative’s effort to achieve accelerated measles mortality reduction targets. Accelerated measles activities implemented by the Measles Initiative and partners in collaboration with countries led to a 92% reduction in measles mortality 2000-2008. Recent reductions in national and international support for these activities have resulted in measles resurgence across sub-Saharan Africa, jeopardizing attainment of MDG 4.

Photos from the event are available here.

Read more about the Task Force's AMMRIRIA project here. 

Read the Washington Post article covering this event.

 

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Media Contact:skluglein@taskforce.org
The Task Force for Global Health/AMMRIRIA: Samantha Kluglein: +404-592-1444;