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Nicole Brown
Lions Clubs International Foundation
630-571-5466, ext. 386
E-mail: Nicole.Brown@lionsclubs.org
For Immediate Release
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Urges Lions to Continue
Fight for the Eradication of Preventable Blindness
Chicago, Illinois, USA, July 3, 2007—Former President Jimmy Carter, a Lions club member for more than 50 years, will help Lions Clubs International celebrate its 90th anniversary with a call to expand the global campaign against preventable blindness.
Carter will deliver remarks at the Lions’ international convention at the United Center, 9:30 a.m. on Friday, July 6.
Without further educational and medical intervention, the world’s blind population will double from 37 million to 74 million, experts predict. According to the World Health Organization, eight out of 10 cases of blindness can be prevented or reversed if caught in time.
Carter’s exhortation to campaign against blindness will be a familiar one for Lions, who are well known for their work to end preventable blindness. The Lions, formed in Chicago in June 1917, began working to combat blindness in 1925 in response to a challenge from Helen Keller.
Carter will urge increased funding to combat blindness through the Lions’ Campaign SightFirst II, an international fundraising initiative to raise a minimum of $150 million over three years.
Over the past 16 years, Lions have given $202 million in grant funding for such sight-related projects as cataract surgeries, constructing or expanding eye hospitals and clinics, vision testing in preschool and elementary schools, distributing sight-saving medication to prevent river blindness and training eye care professionals.
Lions have a long-standing partnership with The Carter Center. Lions Clubs International Foundation has awarded The Carter Center more than $20 million to prevent river blindness in Latin America and Africa. Lions have also partnered with Merck & Co, Inc. To date, 88 million treatments of Mectizan have been delivered. The drugs were donated by Merck, and Lions have a 15-year partnership with the company. The eradication of the disease in Latin America is possible by 2010. LCIF also is partnering with the Carter Center to battle trachoma in three nations.
Following Carter’s speech, the Lions will unveil a statue depicting a child leading a blind man, which has been donated by The Carter Center and will be dedicated and placed on the grounds of the Lions Clubs International Headquarters in August. The statue is a replica of the one now situated on The Carter Center grounds.
Carter has also produced a series of public service announcements in collaboration with Lions on the need for Campaign SightFirst II and Lions’ work with blindness prevention.
Carter was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."
Lions’ members play a big role in communities around the world, donating an estimated $554 million each year and some 76 million hours—the equivalent of more than 36,000 people working full time for a year. Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization with 1.3 million members in approximately 45,000 clubs in 200 countries. For more information, visit www.lionsclubs.org or www.lcif.org.
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