NOTE-2000-07/ Gates foundation to announce donation for Guinea Worm eradication

Note for the Press 2000

Note for the Press No 7
15 May 2000

MEDIA ADVISORY

GATES FOUNDATION TO ANNOUNCE DONATION FOR GUINEA WORM ERADICATION

What: A press conference on The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's donation for the eradication of Guinea Worm disease

Where: Salle III, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland

When: 11h45 a.m., Tuesday, 16 May 2000

On Tuesday, 16 May, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will announce a substantial donation to aid in the final eradication of guinea worm disease (dracunculiasis). Recipients of the grant are the Carter Center, the World Bank, the World Health Organization and UNICEF. Details of the grant will be given at the press conference.

"This grant will help accelerate the incredible effort of four organizations that are winning the war on Guinea worm," said Bill Foege, Senior Health Advisor to the Global Health Program at the Foundation. "Guinea worm disease can be defeated, and I look forward to the day when the last case is certified."

The panellists at the press conference are:

Dr Bill Foege, Senior Health Adviser at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Dr David Heymann, WHO Executive Director, Communicable Diseases
Mr David Alnwick, Chief of Health Section, UNICEF
Mr James Christopher Lovelace, Director, Health, Nutrition and Population, the World Bank
Dr Donald Hopkins, Associate Executive Director, the Carter Center

For further information, journalists may contact Mr Gregory Hartl, WHO Spokesperson, Tel (+41 22) 791 4458; Fax (+41 22) 791 4858; Mobile (+41) (0)79 203 6715; email hartlg@who.int; or Ivo Ilic Gabara, APCO Worldwide, Tel: +32.478.217.149, email: ivo_ilic.gabara@apco-europe.com