Meeting a Hero: President Carter and the Importance of Public/Private Partnerships
By Ellen Strahlman, GSK,Global Head, Neglected Tropical Diseases
I had that opportunity last Friday when I met former US President Jimmy Carter for a 1:1 discussion. I was 20 years old when Carter became President, and I have deeply admired his relentless work for world peace, his contribution to world health, and his values as a human being. He won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2002, as a tribute to his many achievements.
GSK has decades-long history of contributing to improve the healthcare of children and families in the US and abroad, and we've had a long and productive relationship with the Carter Center.
In 1996, our company (well actually it was SmithKline Beecham, one of our heritage companies) hosted a dinner to honor President Carter with the Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Award. At this dinner, we asked President Carter how we could make an impact on health. Key world health leaders had just been informed of albendazole's potential role in interrupting transmission of lymphatic filariasis (LF). Commonly known as elephantiasis, LF is one of the world's leading causes of permanent disability and disfigurement. Subsequent meetings and discussions led to the first agreements for our company to donate albendazole in a campaign to eliminate LF in 1998.
Read more to learn why President Carter told me: "Never has a company been more generous, or more committed, to global health."
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