EV TRADITIONAL WORLDWIDE HEALTH SCIENCES FUND, INC.


                 SUPPLEMENT TO PROSPECTUS DATED FEBRUARY 1, 1997


         Effective  September 1, 1997, EV Traditional  Worldwide Health Sciences
Fund, Inc. (the "Fund"),  subject to shareholder  approval,  will be reorganized
from a Maryland  corporation  to Class A shares of a series  fund  (named  Eaton
Vance  Worldwide  Health  Sciences Fund) of Eaton Vance Growth Trust, a business
trust  organized  under the laws of the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts.  It is
anticipated that this restructuring will reduce Fund operating expenses, thereby
enhancing  long-term  returns  and  improving   operational   flexibility.   The
conversion to the  multiple-class  structure will not be a taxable  transaction,
change the value or cost basis of existing shareholders' investments,  or change
fund net asset values per share.  Likewise,  the conversion  will not materially
change shareholder  voting rights. It is possible that some shareholders  could,
in the future,  receive  different  distributions of realized capital gains than
would be the case if the  restructuring  did not occur.  This result could occur
because  allocation  of  the  Worldwide  Health  Sciences   Portfolio's  current
unrealized capital gains will be different under multiple-class accounting rules
than has been the case under the  partnership  accounting  rules of the  current
structure.  The  actual  realization  of  capital  gains in the  future  remains
uncertain and depends not only on the investment adviser's decisions but also on
the fluctuating market valuation of specific  securities.  Because capital gains
distributions  reduce the net asset value of a fund's shares, the effect of such
a distribution  change is to alter current tax  obligations  and tax obligations
upon redemption (by the same amount).



July 31, 1997                                                          T-HS9/1PS