Cancer forces Jimmy Carter to slow down but not stop work - Grand Island Independent
But he insisted that his work isn't done yet — and pointed to The Carter Center's dramatic inroads against diseases in Africa, Asia and Latin America as an example. Guinea worm — a parasite that lives in untreated water and grows inside the human body — afflicted 3. 5 million people but seemed beyond the reach of global health initiatives. The Carter Center says its public health work helped reduce Guinea worm disease to a mere 126 cases worldwide last year. "I would like the last Guinea worm to die before I do," Carter said. That's no surprise to Jim Niquette, who spent nine years working on the disease in Nigeria, Ghana and Southern Sudan with the center, and accompanied Carter on three working trips in the field. Niquette founded and now runs WATER (Water in Africa Through Everyday Responsiveness), a nonprofit focused on improving access to clean water. Gerald Rafshoon, who ran Carter's political advertising campaigns, said a president's legacy is determined by "what he can accomplish for the future. " Carter has kept that mentality ever since, despite his disappointment at losing to Ronald Reagan in 1980, he said. You knew if he was working you hard, he was working even harder. Source: www.theindependent.com
