Health Program Reviews 2023

Guinea Worm Eradication Program

Wednesday, March 1 – Friday, March 3, 2023

Agenda

Our Goal

Since 1986, The Carter Center has led the international campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease, working closely with ministries of health and local communities, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and many others.

Guinea worm disease could become the second human disease in history, after smallpox, to be eradicated. It would be the first parasitic disease to be eradicated and the first disease to be eradicated without the use of a vaccine or medicine.

A field supervisor in South Sudan conducts house-to-house health education with the use of a visual aid. (Photo by South Sudan Technical Advisor Adam Ettelbrick)

“Assistant Technical Advisor Rodrigue Djimadoum checks a dog for sub-cutaneous worms in the Bambara. The owner helped Rodrigue calm the dog and gently held the dog as it was examined in response to a rumor that [our field team] received. This dog did indeed have a sub-cutaneous worm and an adult Guinea worm emerged three months later in April.” (Quote and photo from Chad Technical Advisor Steven Vardeman) 

“In the Biobe area, [our field team was] doing active research with the support of our first village volunteer. It is thanks to this volunteer that we detected this swelling that alerted us to an animal infection which then produced 4 worms.” (Quote and photo from Chad Technical Advisor Kolio Matchanga)

Results & Impact

Incidences of Guinea worm disease have been reduced from an estimated 3.5 million in 1986 to 15 in 2021. The disease has been eliminated in 16 countries.   

The Guinea worm eradication campaign has averted at least 80 million cases of this devastating disease among the world's poorest and most neglected people.  

The campaign has helped to establish village-based health delivery systems in thousands of communities that now have networks of health personnel and volunteers who provide health education and interventions to prevent other diseases.  

92% of non- village areas and 33% of villages under active surveillance for Guinea worm disease do not have access to safe water in Ethiopia. As an immediate solution to prevent Guinea worm cases, The Carter Center Ethiopia encourages these marginalized communities to use both cloth and pipe filters. (Photo by Program Manager Aragaw Lamesgin)