Guinea Worm Summit
Blog | 'It's Just 15' | Summit Outcomes | Press Release
At the 2022 Guinea Worm Summit, The Carter Center and Reaching the Last Mile, an initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, along with high-ranking representatives from impacted countries, gathered to recommit themselves to taking the steps needed to eradicate Guinea worm disease by 2030.
High-level representatives of Angola, Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Mali, South Sudan, and Sudan reconfirmed their commitment to accelerate progress by signing the Abu Dhabi Declaration on the Eradication of Guinea Worm Disease. At Qasr Al Watan, the UAE’s presidential palace, the declaration was signed in solidarity by Sheikh Shakhboot bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, minister of state at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Jason Carter, chair of the Carter Center Board of Trustees; and Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization.
The declaration signing took place at the Qasr Al Watan in Abu Dhabi. (Photo: The Carter Center)
Some of the hallmarks of the four-decade Guinea worm eradication campaign, led by The Carter Center, are its agility, data-driven decision making, deep-rooted partnerships, and commitment to prioritize the needs of the endemic countries. Hear from Adam Weiss, director of the Carter Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program, as he reflects on important Summit outcomes.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, speaks at the “Mission Zero” Guinea Worm Summit 2022 in Abu Dhabi.
His Excellency Sheikh Shakboot bin Nahyan Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of State, greets Jason Carter, chair, Carter Center Board of Trustees, during the Guinea Worm Summit.
Organizing the summit with the UAE generated force-multiplying events. It is fair to say the summit was a turning point, as activity in the subsequent weeks and months shows. We are making history in real time.
Chad, with most of the cases in recent years, is the epicenter of the eradication effort. Immediately after the summit’s conclusion, the director-general of Chad’s health ministry sent out a directive to all of its impacted regions to prioritize Guinea worm eradication and implement interventions, such as the proactive tethering of dogs.
Additionally, an intersectoral task force meeting was held in Chad on June 2, chaired by the World Health Organization’s director-general for infectious diseases. The meeting involved numerous governmental and nongovernmental agencies to discuss the status of Guinea worm disease in Chad and begin devising ways to collaborate. This was Chad’s first task force meeting in several years.
Ethiopia Minister of Health Dr. Lia Tadesse Gebremedhin led a high-level visit to a village with a history of Guinea worm cases. Joining the minister were the vice president of Gambella Regional State, the state minister of agriculture, members of the Gambella Regional Parliament, and representatives of the WHO and The Carter Center, including me. The May visit focused on safe water and resulted in a pledge from UNICEF to finance timely repairs to the village’s water pump.
After the summit, The Carter Center invested $500,000 in safe-water projects in South Sudan, which will help with both Guinea worm and trachoma. The government of South Sudan has recently emphasized safe water and planned to host an international water summit later this year.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo submitted its dossier to the WHO requesting to be certified as Guinea worm free.
Sudan wrote a letter to The Carter Center pledging to do likewise before the end of the year. These countries are the only nonendemic countries yet to submit for certification of eradication of Guinea worm disease.
Cameroon, a formerly endemic country, agreed to take part in a meeting to help coordinate efforts that span that country’s frontier with Chad. That meeting is mission critical because it addresses an epidemiological zone that traverses a border. The population along the border is basically one people that lives on two sides of a river, creating a Guinea worm infection risk for both countries. The cross-border meeting marks a renewed level of engagement and cooperation between Cameroon and The Carter Center.
Carter Center Board of Trustees Chair Jason Carter and WHO Secretary-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote a well-received guest essay on Guinea worm that appeared in a special section of The Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom. Numerous other outlets covered the summit, including The National, Philanthropy Age, The Lancet, and Nature.
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