Sept. 30, 2022
EMORY + THE CARTER CENTER Celebrate 40 Years of Partnership
Published by Emory Magazine.
The collaboration between Emory University and The Carter Center, established in 1982, has fostered an extraordinary community of scholarship and practice that has had an impact across the world, advancing peace and improving health. President Jimmy Carter, in 1996, referred to it as a “marriage that has worked out quite well.”
Sept. 26, 2022
One Step Closer to Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease Epidemic in Africa, etc. Japanese Doctor Contributes
Published by Yomiuri Shinbun.
Yufu Fujita (47), a doctor from Osaka City who has experience working locally as a staff member of the organization, spoke with great force. From 2003 to 2004, Fujita worked on eradication activities in Togo, West Africa, as an employee of the non-governmental organization "Carter Center." In a village in northern Togo, she witnessed a woman suffering from guinea worm and screaming in excruciating pain in her leg. At the time, Fujita had not yet obtained her medical license, but she cooperated with the treatment of the woman, who was violently in pain.
Sept. 9, 2022
World on Edge of Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease
Published by Exemplars in Global Health.
Guinea worm disease is poised to become the second human disease in history, after smallpox, to be eradicated. In 1986, when the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution to eliminate Guinea worm disease, there were approximately 3.5 million cases of the disease, which causes debilitating pain. Those cases were spread across 21 countries from Mauritania to India. By 2021, there were just 15 human cases – all of them in just four countries.
Sept. 8, 2022
How South Sudan is Ending Guinea Worm Disease – and Building its National Health System
Published by Exemplars in Global Health.
Since gaining its independence in 2011, South Sudan has overcome poor infrastructure, insecurity, and conditions ideal for the spread of Guinea worm disease to bring the number of cases of this debilitating condition down from tens of thousands each year to four in 2021 and a single case, so far, in 2022.
Sept. 7, 2022
The Fight Against Communicable Disease is Not Over Yet
Published by Tingenes Verden (World of Things in English).
The Guinea Worm will soon finish destroying the lives of people in Asia and Africa. The worm lives in the body, and it creates painful wounds when it has to get out with its larvae.
September 2022
4th Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize of Japan
Published by International Development Journal. Pages 56-57 (Japanese)
Japanese’s only magazine dedicated to international development and cooperation. Attached is an article on the Hideyo Noguchi Africa prize and the Carter Center’s Guinea Worm Eradication award.
Autumn 2022
The Fight Against Communicable Disease is Not Over Yet (Japanese)
Published by Financial Times.
As The Carter Center’s country director for South Sudan, Niquette’s job is to drive out the serpent. He’s joined in that endeavor by two other Notre Dame alumni, Craig Withers ’76 and Lynn Malooly ’84. They share a commitment to implementing what’s known as WASH, shorthand for the standards of water, sanitation and hygiene required to improve health and reduce poverty in the developing world. The Carter Center leads the international campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease and works closely with ministries of health and local communities, the U.S. CDC, the WHO, UNICEF, and many others. Guinea worm disease could become the second human disease in history, after smallpox, to be eradicated.
Autumn 2022
Nearly a Happy Ending
Published by Notre Dame Magazine.
As The Carter Center’s country director for South Sudan, Niquette’s job is to drive out the serpent. He’s joined in that endeavor by two other Notre Dame alumni, Craig Withers ’76 and Lynn Malooly ’84. They share a commitment to implementing what’s known as WASH, shorthand for the standards of water, sanitation and hygiene required to improve health and reduce poverty in the developing world.
June 27, 2022
LifeStraw Water Filter Review: A Filter That Gives Back
Published by CNN Underscored.
To fully understand the goal and mission of LifeStraw, it’s imperative that you know how it began. “LifeStraw was a concept that came out of a partnership that Mikkel [Vestergaard Frandsen, founder of LifeStraw] and his father had established with President Carter and The Carter Center around Guinea worm eradication,” says Hill. From that partnership, LifeStraw created a pipe straw filter that removed Guinea worm larvae from drinking water in the mid-’90s.
May 1, 2022
Countries Recommit to Guinea Worm Eradication by 2030 (PDF)
Published by The Lancet.
On March 23, 2022, six of the seven nations that have yet to be certified by WHO as free from Guinea worm disease (also known as dracunculiasis) reaffirmed their commitment to wiping out the nematode by 2030. Representatives from Angola, Cameroon (which has been certified as Guinea worm-free, but sees occasional cross-border cases), Chad, DR Congo, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Sudan assembled for a summit on Guinea worm in the United Arab Emirates.
March 24, 2022
Guinea Worm Disease: The Last Mile (Arabic)
Published by Philanthropy Age Magazine.
Signatories to the Abu Dhabi Declaration on the Eradication of Guinea Worm Disease commit to re-doubling efforts to eradicate the disease by 2030. The Guinea Worm Summit was co-hosted by the Carter Center and the Reaching the Last Mile, a portfolio of global health programmes focused on disease elimination funded by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
March 22, 2022
UAE - Abu Dhabi: Fight Against Guinea Worm Disease Caused by a Parasitic Worm Ever Reach the Finish Line?
Published by Khaleej Times.
Nations have renewed commitment to eradicate Guinea worm disease by signing a historic declaration in Abu Dhabi. Guinea worm disease is a neglected tropical disease caused by Dracunculus medinensis, a parasitic worm. It affects poor communities in remote parts of Africa who consume water contaminated with worm larvae as they lack access to safe water.
March 22, 2022
Video: Leaders, Experts Sign ‘Abu Dhabi Declaration for The Eradication of Guinea Worm Disease’
Published by Gulf News UAE.
Leaders and experts on Tuesday committed in Abu Dhabi to eradicate Guinea Worm Disease, a neglected tropical condition that causes illness and perpetuates cycles of poverty in affected populations.
March 21, 2022
WHO Director-General's Opening Remarks at the Guinea Worm Ministerial Summit
Published by World Health Organization.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, speaks at the “Mission Zero” Guinea Worm Summit 2022 in Abu Dhabi.
Feb. 14, 2022
From 3.5 Million to 14
Published by Spektrum.de.
While the causative agent of the Covid-19 pandemic is currently spreading like never before, the cause of another disease is on the verge of extinction: just 14 cases of infection with Guinea worm were reported in 2021.
Jan. 26, 2022
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Carter Center Sees Hope in Fewest Cases Ever of Guinea Worm
Published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Weiss is orchestrating a worldwide effort by the Carter Center and multiple agencies to eliminate Guinea worm disease in the countries where it remains. Experts are tantalizingly close. Last year, there were 14 reported cases in four African countries — Ethiopia, Mali, South Sudan and Chad. That is the lowest count ever reported.
Jan. 26, 2022
The Horrific Guinea Worm Is on the Run—Just 14 Cases Reported Worldwide Last Year
Published by Gizmodo.
A debilitating parasitic worm could soon be eradicated as one of humanity’s longtime foes. On Wednesday, the Carter Center announced that only 14 cases of guinea worm disease were reported worldwide in 2021—the lowest toll yet and a sharp decline from the year before.
Dec. 9, 2021
Dracunculiasis — Guinea Worm Disease — Is Close to Eradication. But Will We Ever Reach the Finish Line?
Published by Medscape.
When in 1988 former US President Jimmy Carter toured Denchira and Elevanyo, two villages near Accra, Ghana, he noticed a young woman who appeared to be cradling a baby. Carter approached her for a chat, but was stopped in his tracks by a disquieting sight.
Sept. 16, 2021
Reply to: Rethinking Disease Eradication: Putting Countries First
Published by International Health.
In a recent article, Gebre suggests that endemic countries should lead in deciding on disease eradication initiatives and asserts that ‘elimination as a public health problem’ is the preferred option because eradication occurs at the expense of other health programs and weakens fragile health systems.
August 2021
Obituary: Nabil Aziz Awad Alla
Published by The Lancet.
Nabil Aziz Awad Alla, a clinical and public health expert renowned for his work in the field of neglected tropical disease (NTD) including guinea worm disease, onchocerciasis, and trachoma, died in the third week of May in Sudan due to reasons not specified in media reports.
April 29, 2021
'End is in Sight': Tackling a Rare Disease in a Global Pandemic
Published by Thomson Reuters Foundation News.
Okello Aballa Ognum regularly has to walk deep into the jungles of south-west Ethiopia to treat the water ponds that harbour a debilitating parasitic disease. Painstakingly, he measures the water volume to determine how much chemical treatment to use against copepods, the tiny water fleas that carry the Guinea worm larvae.
April 21, 2021
Vietnam Records First Case of Dracunculus Worm Infection
Published by Healio.
Researchers reported the first known case of human Dracunculus worm infection in Vietnam. The case was caused by an unknown species of worm that was determined not to be the species that causes dracunculiasis, or Guinea worm disease.
April 15, 2021
By Foot or Flight
Published by Mission Aviation Fellowship of Canada.
Recently, MAF pilot Wouter Nagel flew a shipment of antibiotics for The Carter Center to the hilltop community of Nagishot, in South Sudan, to help combat the spread of trachoma in this rural community. At 6444 feet above sea level, Nagishot, in Eastern Equatoria State, is the highest airstrip and community in South Sudan.
Feb. 3, 2021
Human Infection With an Unknown Species of Dracunculus in Vietnam
Published by International Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Guinea worm (GW) disease, caused by Dracunculus medinensis, is an almost eradicated waterborne zoonotic disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) currently lists GW as endemic in only five African countries. In July 2020, the Vietnamese public health surveillance system detected a hanging worm in a 23-year-old male patient, who did not report any travel to Africa or any country previously endemic for GW.
Jan. 29, 2021
Guinea Worm Closer To Eradication As Cases Halve In A Year
Published by the Associated Press.
Just over two dozen people in the world are infected with Guinea worm, according to a new report that says community programs are close to eradicating the disease in which a meter-long worm slowly emerges from a blister in a person’s skin.
Jan. 29, 2021
Carter Center Reports Progress In Goal To Eliminate Guinea Worm Disease
Published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s orange glow Saturday will not mean the space station-like building is about to take off.
Jan. 15, 2021
Monthly Report on Dracunculiasis Cases, January-October 2020
Published by WHO’s Weekly Epidemiology Review, 2021, 96, p. 10.
In order to monitor the progress accomplished towards dracunculiasis eradication, district-wise surveillance indicators, a line list of cases and a line list of villages with cases are sent to WHO by the national dracunculiasis eradication programmes. Information below is summarized from these reports.
Dec. 17, 2020
Carter Center Neglected Tropical Disease Programs Adapt And Overcome Amid Pandemic
Published by Georgia Global Health Alliance.
The COVID-19 pandemic has harmed patients, families, and economies, and even societies and political systems. It has pushed health care providers to the breaking point and brought many public health interventions to a heart-rending halt. Nevertheless, The Carter Center has persevered in our primary mission through resilience and adaptation characteristic of our founders, former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn.
Dec. 17, 2020
The Carter Center Addresses Mental Health During COVID-19 Pandemic
Published by Georgia Global Health Alliance.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented levels of stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and substance abuse among populations worldwide. Meanwhile, critical mental health and disability services have been disrupted. Recognizing that the need for mental health and substance use management will grow during and after the pandemic, the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program is pushing for mental health to be part of COVID-19 responses everywhere and is applying a COVID-19 lens across its work to strengthen behavioral health services and integrate mental health and substance use management into key health and development priorities.
Dec. 13, 2020
A Meeting that Changed the World
Published by Philanthropy Magazine.
Thirty years ago, a conversation between Sheikh Zayed and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was the spark for a philanthropic partnership that has helped bring a debilitating disease to the brink of eradication.
Sept. 15, 2020
Episode 58 Guinea worm: (Almost) Ancient History
Published by This Podcast Will Kill You.
You’ve heard about smallpox, and you’ve learned about rinderpest. Now it’s time to meet what may be the third disease to ever be eradicated: dracunculiasis, also known as Guinea worm disease. In this episode, we take you through the absolutely remarkable life cycle of this not-so-little worm and the nitty gritty of the havoc it wreaks on a person’s body throughout its journey.
August 21, 2020
COVID-19 Pandemic ‘Could Be Quite Damaging’ to Efforts to End Other Diseases
Published by Healio.
Abstract: In May, modeling commissioned by the Stop TB Partnership showed that a lockdown of just 3 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic could set the global fight against tuberculosis back at least 5 to 8 years. Global efforts against other diseases, including malaria and polio, also have been negatively impacted by the pandemic...Not every effort is experiencing setbacks. Currently, eradication efforts for Guinea worm are progressing.
June 12, 2020
Rare, Nearly Extinct Parasite May Have Resurfaced in Vietnam, Doctors Say
Published by Gizmodo.
Doctors in Vietnam this week say that they’ve made a mysterious and—if accurate—alarming discovery: A local resident who was infested with the nearly extinct Guinea worm. But Guinea worm experts are still trying to confirm whether this case is the genuine article, and if so, how the worm managed to reach a country thousands of miles away from its only known remaining refuge in parts of Africa.
April 29, 2020
Renal Relapses In the Form of Epilepsy In the Gambella Region
Published by Walta TV.
Based in Addis Ababa, Walta is a pro-government news channel owned by Walta Media and Communications Corporate. Story interviews the Carter Center’s Guinea Worm Program manager and the head of the Gambella regional health office on efforts to eradicate the disease in the country. Also discussed are seven recently reported and contained cases. *The video is in Amharic.
April 28, 2020
News Alert: Gambella Sees New Guinea Worm Disease Outbreak
Published by Addis Standard.
Gambella Regional State press secretariat office said there has been a re-emergence of Guinea Worm Disease (GWD) outbreak in Gog Wereda, Gog Dipach Kebele, in Dule sub district of the regional state. Seven people are infected by GWD in this area so far.
Feb. 3, 2020
How to Prevent Two of the World's Worst Diseases for Less than the Price of a Can of Cola
Published by National News UAE.
It is less than the price of a can of soda, but a Dh2 donation can fight diseases that cause blindness and misery among some of the world's poorest communities. That is the message of a campaign launched on Monday that calls on everyone to play their part in preventing and eradicating illnesses that afflict around 200 million people.
Dec 23, 2019
Sudan Child Soldier Becomes Man of Healing and Emory Grad Student
Published by Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The chasm separating Garang Buk Buk Piol from his dream of attending Emory University in 2018 was wide.
Nov. 5, 2019
Forward Thinkers
Published by Emory Magazine.
After watching his village burn, a South Sudanese child soldier decided to choose help over hurt. Now he’s a grad student who plans to apply his knowledge in his home country.
Sept. 26, 2019
Alwaleed Philanthropies Joins Global Carter Center Campaign to End the Spread of Guinea Worm Disease
Published by Alwaleed Philanthropies.
Alwaleed Philanthropies, the global philanthropic foundation chaired by HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz AlSaud, has invested $1 million to help complete the eradication of Guinea worm, a neglected tropical disease that remains only in remote poor rural villages in a few African countries.
Aug. 12, 2019
Creative Mornings
Kelly Callahan served as a Water and Sanitation volunteer in Cote d’Ivoire. During this time she specifically focused on Guinea worm disease. From this experience she transitioned to Sudan for The Carter Center until 2004 heading up the Center’s southern Sudan office, targeting Guinea worm eradication, trachoma control, and river blindness control.
July 15, 2019
Goodbye Guinea Worm: Guinea Worm Eradication with Adam Weiss
Published by American Society for Microbiology.
Adam Weiss, MPH, is the director of the Guinea Worm Eradication Program at the Carter Center. Weiss talks about how debilitating guinea worm disease is for infected people, how the worms seem to evade immunity, how the guinea worm has been eradicated without vaccines or drugs but rather behavior modification, how seeing the disease first-hand led to President Carter’s and Weiss’ passion for eradication, how dogs have recently been found to act as a reservoir, and how being in the Peace Corps led him on his life path.
June 19, 2019
Carter Center And Ministry Of Health Launch Documentary Program To Tell Stories Of Eradication Of Guinea Worm In #SouthSudan
Published by Radio Miraya on Audio Boom.
The #CarterCenter together with #SouthSudan Ministry of Health and other partners have started a documentary program that will tell stories of eradication of Guinea Worm in the country. The documentary will focus on the experiences and impacts of guinea worm on their lives. It will involve stories of people who have been treated from Guinea worm.
Jan. 18, 2019
Guinea Worm ‘Could Soon Be Wiped Out’
Published by BBC.
One of the health bodies spearheading the drive to eradicate Guinea worm says the disease is close to being wiped out. The US-based Carter Centre says that only 28 cases of Guinea worm were reported in 2018, compared to the 3.5 million infections recorded in 1986.
Jan. 18, 2019
This Neglected Tropical Disease Just Hit a Historic Low Worldwide
Published by the Global Citizen.
In 1986, there were an estimated 3.5 million cases every year across 21 countries. There were only 28 human cases of Guinea worm disease worldwide in 2018, according to a new report from the Carter Center.
Jan. 17, 2019
Guinea Worm Disease Could Soon be Wiped Out, Experts Say
Published by Voice of America.
There were just 28 reported human cases of Guinea worm disease (GWD) last year, the U.S.-based Carter Center said Thursday. The nongovernmental organization founded by former President Jimmy Carter said the disease is gradually moving toward eradication.
Dec. 18, 2018
Signature of a Grant Agreement of US$ 1 Million for Financing the Carter Center for Guinea Worm Eradication Program
Published by Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, posted with permission.
A Grant Agreement was signed today in Kuwait, between the Carter Center and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, whereby the Kuwait Fund will provide a Fourth Grant in an amount of US$ 1 million to further assist in financing the Carter Center within the framework of the Guinea Worm Eradication Program.
Nov. 14, 2018
Winners of the 2018 AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards
Published by AAAS.
Cricket Media’s Muse magazine has won an award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science for an October 2017 article about the Guinea Worm Eradication Program, led by The Carter Center.
Sept. 7, 2018
BASF’s Abate Helps in Disease Eradication
Published by Pest Management Professional magazine.
“BASF will continue to support the fight against Guinea worm disease to eradicate it.” This was the promise BASF’s Saori Dubourg made to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at a recent meeting.
June 18, 2018
Nearly Eradicated in Humans, the Guinea Worm Finds New Victims: Dogs
Published by The New York Times.
For 30 years, scientists have fought to eliminate a horrifying parasite. Suddenly, it has begun infecting dogs in Chad, threatening to undo decades of progress.
May 9, 2018
New Initiative Will Drive Atlanta’s Reputation as the Center for Global Health
Published by Global Health ATL.
The Metro Atlanta Chamber, Georgia Global Health Alliance and Deloitte announced the launch of Global Health ATL. The initiative’s priorities are to create a health innovation hub in the heart of metro Atlanta and drive impact in areas such as disease eradication, economic development and disaster response.
May 2018
Elimination of Guinea Worm Disease in South Sudan Through Multi-Disciplinary Actions
Published by South Sudan Medical Journal.
South Sudan is now in the pre-certification phase, having gone over sixteen months as of April 2018, with zero reports for cases of Guinea worm disease (GWD). This unquestionable success story in South Sudan, was possible through the multidisciplinary actions of key partners, such as The Carter Center, World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and other NGOs with the MoH at the helm of the implementation of the key strategies for GWD eradication.
March 29, 2018
South Sudan has Halted Guinea Worm
Published by PRI’s The World.
Donald Hopkins and The Carter Center are using science, hard work, and persistence to eradicate Guinea worm disease.
March 22, 2018
South Sudan Halts Spread of Crippling Guinea Worms
Published by The New York Times.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, appears to have stopped Guinea worm disease within its borders, the country’s health minister announced Wednesday.
March 21, 2018
Guinea Worm Disease Transmission Stopped in South Sudan
Published by the Associated Press.
South Sudan has gone 15 months without a single reported case of Guinea worm disease, the nation's health minister said Wednesday, suggesting a major victory for global health officials trying to eliminate the painful affliction.
March 21, 2018
South Sudan Reaches Milestone in Eradicating Debilitating Guinea Worm
Published by CNN.
Amid war and devastation in South Sudan came glimmers of hope Wednesday as the world's newest nation announced a milestone step toward eradicating a debilitating disease.
March 2, 2018
Eradicating Dracunculiasis: WHO Certifies Kenya as South Sudan and Mali Continue to Report Zero Human Cases
Published by the World Health Organization.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has certified Kenya free of dracunculiasis transmission following the recommendation of the International Commission for the Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication.
Feb. 21, 2018
WHO Declares Kenya Guinea-worm Free
Published by The Star (Kenya).
Kenya has officially been declared free of Guinea worm disease after a team from the World Health Organization found no evidence of its transmission in the last three years. Kenya’s last case was reported in 1994.
Feb. 12, 2018
The Shadow Crusade to End Measles
Published by Wired.com.
A crusade to eradicate measles would save 22 million lives by 2030. But to succeed, we might need to learn how to eradicate other diseases – such as polio, river blindness, and Guinea worm – first.
Jan. 20, 2018
World Moves Closer to Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease
Published by Associated Press.
The U.S.-based Carter Center, which leads the eradication campaign, says just 30 cases were reported last year in isolated areas of Ethiopia and Chad. All 15 cases in Ethiopia occurred at a farm where workers drank unfiltered water from a contaminated pond.
Jan. 19, 2018
Carter Center Working to Kill This Disease
Published by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Carter Center and its partners reported continued progress in the global Guinea worm eradication campaign.
Jan. 19, 2018
Fierce Optimism
Published by Harvard Public Health.
Dr. Donald Hopkins invests a lifetime of experience and determination in the campaign to eradicate an ancient curse.
Nov. 20, 2017
Neglected Tropical Diseases, Neglected Communities, and Conflict: How Do We Leave No One Behind?
Published by Trends in Parasitology.
Areas in conflict are a challenge to reaching NTD control and elimination targets; success requires creative adaptation to local circumstances.
Oct. 24, 2017
No Guinea Worm Cases Registered in 10 Months
Published by Eye Radio (South Sudan).
No cases of Guinea worm have been registered across the country in the last 10 months, according to the director of the South Sudan Guinea Worm Eradication Program.
Oct. 19, 2017
Hamed bin Zayed Inaugurates "Countdown: Eliminating Diseases That Threaten Humanity" (Article in Arabic | Snippet translated by Google Translate)
Published by Emirates News Agency.
Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed, Chairman of the Crown Prince Court, on Sunday opened Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an exhibition which documents global efforts to eliminate diseases.
Oct. 16, 2017
Sheikh Hamed Opens Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease Global Exhibition in Abu Dhabi
Published by The National.
Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed, Chairman of the Crown Prince Court, on Sunday opened Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an exhibition which documents global efforts to eliminate diseases.
Oct. 16, 2017
Hamed bin Zayed: The Elimination of Infectious Diseases in Poor Communities Achieves Sustainable Development (Article in Arabic | English translation – Google Translate)
Published by Al Ittihad.
An explanation of what the exhibition includes, the efforts and initiatives of the UAE in eradicating and eliminating diseases, and achievements in Pakistan.
Oct. 15, 2017
Hamed bin Zayed Inaugurates "Countdown: Elimination of Diseases That Threaten Humanity" (Article in Arabic | Snippet translated by Google Translate)
Published by 24.ae.
Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed, Chairman of the Crown Prince Court, on Sunday opened Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an exhibition which documents global efforts to eliminate diseases.
Oct. 9, 2017
South Sudan Winning Against Guinea Worm, Says Jimmy Carter
Published by The Associated Press.
Despite being beset by a civil war and many other internal problems, the world's youngest nation is making excellent progress against the ancient tropical disease, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter says.
Oct. 9, 2017
International Multimedia Exhibition Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease Comes to Abu Dhabi to Highlight UAE's Central Role in Global Disease Eradication
UAE press release, published by Reuters (Dubai).
During the month of October, the international multimedia exhibition Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease will bring the story of global disease elimination and eradication efforts to Abu Dhabi.
Oct. 2, 2017
Former President Jimmy Carter Chosen as 2017 Prix Galien Pro Bono Humanum Honoree
Published by PR Newswire.
The Galien Awards Committee announced today that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter will receive the 2017 Pro Bono Humanum Award at the 11th annual Prix Galien USA Awards Ceremony, to be held on Thursday, October 26, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
Oct. 1, 2017
Fighting to the End: Behind the Effort to Defeat a Painful Disease (PDF)
Published by Muse magazine (www.cricketmedia.com).
Donald Hopkins and The Carter Center are using science, hard work, and persistence to eradicate Guinea worm disease. For this article, Muse won a 2018 American Association for the Advancement of Science Kavli Gold Award for Science Journalism.
Oct. 1, 2017
How a Meeting with Sheikh Zayed was the First Step Down the Long Road to Eliminating Some of the World's Worst Diseases
Published by The National (UAE).
At the time, few could have realised the significance of the commitment made by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, President of the UAE, when he invited the former US president Jimmy Carter to the UAE for the first time.
Sept. 20, 2017
UAE Pushes for Political Commitment to Eradicate International Multimedia Exhibition Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease Comes to Abu Dhabi to Highlight UAE's Central Role in Global Disease Eradication
Published by The National (UAE).
Dr. Maha Barakat, the head of Health Authority-Abu Dhabi (Haad), represents the UAE’s support of global health policies at the United Nations. Barakat was lobbying during the General Assembly for Reach the Last Mile, an initiative to end preventable infectious diseases such as malaria, guinea worm and polio, and the UAE is urging countries and organizations to put political weight behind eradicating these diseases.
Sept. 19, 2017
Abu Dhabi to Launch Campaign to Reach “Last Mile” on Preventable Disease
Published by Devex.
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi will host a Global Health Forum later this year that will serve as a “stepping out” for the United Arab Emirates’ role as a major player in eliminating neglected tropical disease, Devex has learned.
Aug. 31, 2017
Dr. Donald Hopkins Helped Wipe Smallpox from the Planet. He Won’t Rest Until He’s Done the Same for Guinea Worm Disease.
Published by Atlanta magazine.
At an open-air hospital in northern Ghana, Donald Hopkins watched a small girl endure a medical ordeal unseen in the United States.
May 16, 2017
What It’s Like When A Guinea Worm Living Inside Your Body Suddenly Burrows Out
Published by the Huffington Post.
It took days for Maker Achuil and others to slowly pull the arm-length, spaghetti-like worm out of his thigh. After a year with the white parasite inside him, Achuil screamed in pain as the grown Guinea worm emerged.
April 27, 2017
Dracunculiasis in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Published by the Journal of The Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.
Dracunculiasis, otherwise known as guinea worm disease (GWD), is caused by infection with the nematode Dracunculus medinensis. This nematode is transmitted to humans exclusively via contaminated drinking water. The transmitting vectors are Cyclops copepods (water fleas), which are tiny free-swimming crustaceans usually found abundantly in freshwater ponds.
April 21, 2017
Securing America’s Legacy in the Fight Against Neglected Tropical Diseases
Published by The Hill.
Global progress against malaria, HIV/AIDS, and other infectious diseases often makes headlines across our nation and around the world. And it should. Yet news rarely captures one of the biggest global health successes to date: our country’s efforts to eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
April 20, 2017
Guinea Worm Eradication: Progress and Challenges – Should We Beware of the Dog?
Published by PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.
The Global Guinea Worm Eradication (Dracunculiasis) Programme has made spectacular progress since it began in the 1980’s. The numbers of individuals afflicted by Guinea Worm disease has declined from an estimated 3.5 million cases in 1986 to only 25 cases in 2016 [1,2]. The disease is caused by infection with Dracunculus medinensis and acquired by ingestion of infected water fleas, Cyclops and Mesocyclops species. The objective of the programme is the Global Eradication of the infection; WHO defines eradication as “the permanent reduction to zero of the worldwide incidence of infection caused by a specific pathogen as a result of deliberate efforts with no risk of reintroduction”.
April 18, 2017
The Long Road to Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases
Published by Financial Times.
When Ernesto Ruiz-Tiben began his work to eradicate guinea worm disease more than 30 years ago, he felt “it was going to be like dragging a dead elephant through a swamp by its tail.
April 5, 2017
Guinea Worm Infection in Northern Nigeria: Reflections on a Disease Approaching Eradication
Published by Tropical Medicine & International Health.
Global eradication of the guinea worm (Dracunculus medinensis) is near, although perhaps delayed a little by the discovery of a transmission cycle in dogs. It is therefore an appropriate time to reflect on the severe impact of this infection on the life of the communities where it was endemic prior to the start of the global eradication programme in 1981. From 1971 to 1974, we conducted a series of unpublished studies on guinea worm in a group of villages in Katsina State, northern Nigeria, where the infection was highly endemic.
March 21, 2017
Zero Cases of Guinea Worm Disease in Mali
Published by The JAMA Network.
Mali reported no cases of Guinea worm disease (dracunculiasis) in 2016, according to provisional figures reported by the country’s ministry of health and tracked by the Carter Center. Worldwide, only 25 cases of the disease were reported in 2016 in 3 countries—Chad (16), Ethiopia (3), and South Sudan (6)—and these occurred in 19 isolated villages. The 2016 figure is up slightly from the 22 cases that occurred in 2015.
March 17, 2017
Earliest Depiction of 'Fiery Serpent' Found in Medieval Painting
Published by Live Science.
Italian researchers examining a medieval painting may have found the earliest visual depiction of dracunculiasis, a horrifying parasitic infection in which a worm up to 3 feet long creeps out of the skin.
Feb. 22, 2017
These Health Warriors are Using Education to End A Disease
Published by the Huffington Post.
They’re winning the fight against Guinea worm — not with medicine, but with community empowerment.
Jan. 19, 2017
President Jimmy Carter Speaks on ‘Defeating Disease’
Published by FOX: WAGA “Good Day Atlanta.”
A new exhibit at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library & Museum in Atlanta spotlights work being done around the world to eradicate disease. It's something President Jimmy Carter himself is passionate about, and he took some time to talk with Good Day Atlanta's Paul Milliken about his dedication to wipe out Guinea worm disease.
Jan. 11, 2017
Jimmy Carter, Cancer-free, Crusades against Guinea Worm
Published by CNN.
With a grin on his face, twinkle in his eyes and pep in his step, the 92-year-old former president sat down to talk with CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, at the Carter Center in Atlanta on Wednesday morning.
Jan. 11, 2017
Carter: Guinea Worm Disease Reported in 3 Countries in 2016
Published by Associate Press.
Former President Jimmy Carter, who has been working for decades to eradicate Guinea worm disease, says only 25 human cases of the illness were reported worldwide in 2016. When The Carter Center joined the battle to eliminate Guinea worm disease in the mid-1980s, there were about 3.5 million cases in 21 countries, the former president said Wednesday.
Jan. 11, 2017
Disease That Causes 3-Foot Worm To Grow In Body Eliminated From Mali
Published by The Huffington Post.
Former President Jimmy Carter is close to checking off a major bucket-list item: ending a horrific and ancient disease. Together with his eponymous foundation, Carter, 92, announced on Wednesday that dracunculusm, known as Guinea worm disease, has been eliminated from Mali and that there were just 25 reported cases in three African countries last year.
Sept. 14, 2016
Neglected Tropical Diseases: Progress Towards Addressing the Chronic Pandemic
Published by The Lancet.
The concept of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) emerged more than a decade ago and has been recognised as a valid way to categorise diseases that affect the poorest individuals. Substantial progress in control and elimination has been achieved and policy momentum has been generated through continued bilateral, philanthropic, and non-governmental development organisation (NGDO) support, and donations of drugs from pharmaceutical companies. WHO has defined a Roadmap to reach 2020 targets, which was endorsed by member states in a World Health Assembly Resolution in 2013.
Aug. 26, 2016
Guinea Worm, On the Brink of Eradication, Puts Up a Surprisingly Stubborn Fight
Published by the Boston Globe’s STAT News.
While experts believe that eradication of Guinea worm is still achievable, they are now facing a setback in the North African country of Chad.
Aug. 24, 2016
The World is Closer Than Ever to Eradicating Guinea Worm
Published by the Washington Post.
The final stages of the worldwide campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease present new challenges.
Aug. 9, 2016
Dogs Block President Carter's Dream of Wiping out Guinea Worm
Published by NPR, Goats & Soda
For the past few years, the world has been on the edge of one of the biggest medical triumphs of modern history: Wiping out a horrific parasite from the face of the Earth. Despite new challenges, The Carter Center and its partners remain undeterred in the international campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease.
June 6, 2016
The Last Days of Guinea Worm
Published by NPR.
In the 1980s, there were more than 3 million cases of Guinea Worm per year. In 2016, there are only 2 confirmed cases so far. The key to full eradication is education about prevention and care.
June 6, 2016
Jimmy Carter May Soon Get His 90th Birthday Wish: No More Guinea Worm
Published by NPR.
President Jimmy Carter may be on the brink of celebrating the birthday wish he made last year: the global eradication of Guinea worm disease.
June 5, 2016
Intensified Efforts to Make Nation Guinea Worm Disease Free
Published by the Ethiopian Herald.
Ethiopia is one of the four countries which remains endemic for Guinea worm disease, along with Chad, Mali, and South Sudan. To eradicate the disease and certify Ethiopia as ‘Guinea worm-free,’ the Ethiopia Public Health Institute, the Carter Center, and the World Health Organization have joined hands for the effective implementation of the Guinea Worm Eradication Programme
May 6, 2016
The Man Who Kills Disease
Published by CNN
Donald Hopkins helped kill smallpox, and is now close to slaying the fiery serpent.
March 22, 2016
65 Faces of IES Abroad- Donald Hopkins
Published by IES Abroad.
As an undergrad at Morehouse College, Dr. Hopkins received the Charles E. Merrill Jr Scholarship to study abroad in Vienna for a year. It was while on a trip to Egypt, while abroad, that Dr. Hopkins realized that he wanted to focus on tropical disease.
April 29, 2016
Dracunculiasis eradication: global surveillance summary, 2015
Published by World Health Organization, No 17, 2016, 91, 217–236.
In 2015, 22 cases of Guinea Worm were reported in 4 countries. This is an 83% decrease since 2014. However, in Chad, dogs infected with Guinea Worm pose a threat to eradication.
Feb. 4, 2016
Guinea Worm is Set to Be the Second Disease We’ve Ever Managed to Eradicate
Published by Vice.
The image of a serpent twisting around a staff is probably medicine’s most enduring icon; we wear it on medical alert bracelets, hang it in doctors’ surgeries, and print it on healthcare documents. But the story behind the so-called fiery serpent is, at least according to former US President Jimmy Carter, almost over.
Feb. 4, 2016
Guinea Worm Eradication Will Be My Most Gratifying Achievement, says Jimmy Carter
Published by Radio France Internationale.
After a 30-year fight to destroy Guinea worm disease, former US president Jimmy Carter said on Wednesday that only 22 cases of the debilitating disease remain worldwide, all in sub-Saharan Africa. He believes that following control and elimination of dracunculiasis, there is hope for permanent eradication.
Feb. 3, 2016
Jimmy Carter: We Must Try to Eradicate, Not Just Control, Diseases
Published by BBC’s News at 10.
Jimmy Carter speaks with BBC’s Huw Edwards about the importance of trying to eradicate, rather than just control, diseases. Ethiopia is one of the four countries which remains endemic for Guinea worm disease, along with Chad, Mali, and South Sudan. To eradicate the disease and certify Ethiopia as ‘Guinea worm-free,’ the Ethiopia Public Health Institute, the Carter Center, and the World Health Organization have joined hands for the effective implementation of the Guinea Worm Eradication Programme.
Feb. 3, 2016
Jimmy Carter Hopeful for Guinea Worm Eradication in Africa
Published by the Associated Press.
Former US President Jimmy Carter says that Guinea worm disease may soon be eradicated, which would be the most exciting accomplishment of his career. Carter has led a campaign since 1986 through his foundation, the Carter Center, to rid the world of the once-widespread disease.
Feb. 3, 2016
President Carter vs. Guinea Worm
Published by BBC News.
The Carter Centre, which was set up by former President Jimmy Carter, said that represented an 83% drop from the 126 cases reported last year.
Feb. 3, 2016
Going, going…
Published by The Economist.
It looks like something out of a Gothic movie: a metre-long monster that emerges slowly through blistered human skin, its victim writhing in agony. No one is spared. It can creep out from between the toes of a child or from the belly of a pregnant woman. In the mid-1980s Dracunculus medinensis, the Guinea worm, as this horror is called, afflicted 3.5m people a year in 20 countries in Africa and Asia
Feb. 3, 2016
Jimmy Carter, Britain Teaming Up to Take Out Guinea Worm for Good
Published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Former President Jimmy Carter is currently in London, where he’s scheduled to make a rare address in Parliament’s House of Lords Wednesday afternoon.
Feb. 3, 2016
Jimmy Carter: How He’s Eradicating the Guinea Worm
Published by Channel 4 News (U.K.).
At the age of 91 - the former US president Jimmy Carter says tells Jon Snow that he hopes to outlive the last case of a parasite-borne disease he's spent decades trying to eradicate.
Feb. 3, 2016
UK Partners with Jimmy Carter to Eradicate Guinea Worm
Published by the Department for International Development
Britain is partnering with The Carter Center to help make Guinea worm only the second human disease in history to be eradicated, International Development Minister Nick Hurd and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced today.
Feb. 1, 2016
Guinea Worm Disease Nears Eradication
Published by The Lancet.
Only two infectious diseases have ever been eradicated: smallpox, of which the last naturally transmitted case occurred in 1977, and rinderpest, a disease of cattle and related ungulates, officially declared eradicated in 2011. This year might see a remarkable doubling in the list of eradicated diseases, with both polio (about which we wrote in the August, 2015, issue) and guinea worm no longer being naturally transmitted.
Jan. 28, 2016
Lord Speaker Welcomes President Carter to Parliament
Published by the U.K. House of Lords.
President Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States of America, will come to the House of Lords on Wednesday 3 February to deliver a lecture on the eradication of Guinea worm disease as the second of the Lord Speaker's global lecture series.
Jan. 27, 2016
Lord Speaker on Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease
Published by the U.K. House of Lords.
President Carter has since the early 1980s devoted his life to promoting human rights and alleviating suffering around the world, through his foundation, The Carter Center.
Jan. 14, 2016
Guinea Worm Disease is On Course to be Eradicated
Published by Newsday (BBC World Service).
Dr. Donald Hopkins, special advisor for Guinea worm eradication at The Carter Center – the organization leading the fight against the disease – is hopeful that it could disappear next year.
Jan. 11, 2016
Progress in Jimmy Carter's Quest to End Guinea Worm Disease
Published by the New York Times.
Only 22 cases of Guinea worm disease were reported in 2015, the Carter Center announced last week, a significant drop from the 126 cases reported in 2014.
Jan. 10, 2016
Guinea Worm Disease: Jimmy Carter to Thank for Almost Totally Eradicating Flesh-Eating Disease
Published by Inquisitr.
A horrible flesh-eating disease known as Guinea Worm Disease has no cure, but that doesn't mean it can't be something that is eliminated. In 2015, there were a mere 22 cases of Guinea Worm Disease found throughout the entire world and President Jimmy Carter is to thank for that.
Jan. 9, 2016
Why a Painful Parasite with No Cure is Close to Eradication
Published by Vox.
Guinea worm disease – a terrible parasite that once affected millions in developing countries – may not exist for much longer
Jan. 8, 2016
The Carter Center Announces Only 22 Cases of Flesh-Eating Guinea Worm Disease Left – from 3.5 Million
Published by Daily Kos.
On Thursday, The Carter Center announced that only 22 cases of Guinea worm disease were reported in 2015- a reduction of 83% from 2014.
Jan. 8, 2016
Carter Center: 22 Guinea Worm Cases Reported in 2015
Published by the Associated Press.
Officials with The Carter Center in Atlanta this week said that 22 cases of Guinea worm disease were reported worldwide in 2015, down from 126 cases during the previous year.
Jan. 8, 2016
The World Has Never Eradicated a Parasite. But Jimmy Carter is About To.
Published by Vox.
President Jimmy Carter has spent the past 30 years waging a war to eradicate Guinea worm – a battle he is incredibly close to winning.
Jan. 7, 2016
Smallpox and Dracunculiasis: the Scientific Value of Infectious Diseases That Have Been Eradicated or Targeted for Eradication. Is Schistosomiasis Next? (PDF)
Published by PLOS Pathogens.
Only one human disease has been completely eradicated: smallpox. A second, Dracunculiasis, is on the way out. The authors examine the feasibility of targeting schistosomiasis for eradication
Jan. 5, 2016
South Sudan Poised to Eliminate Guinea Worm Disease, Reports Only 5 Confirmed Cases in 2015 (PDF)
Published by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of South Sudan.
The Ministry of Health is proud to announce that South Sudan is on the verge of eliminating Guinea worm disease. This is a historical accomplishment that demonstrates the strength and ability of this young nation to make positive change.
Dec. 14, 2015
The Road to Guinea Worm Eradication: Running the Final Mile
Published by Harvard University – Science in the News.
We usually think of extinction of a species as a bad thing. But what if that species is directly causing human suffering or death on a global scale?
Nov. 30, 2015
Who Neglects Neglected Tropical Diseases? -Korean Perspective
Published by The Journal of Korean Medical Science.
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of tropical infectious diseases of poorest people. Of 17 NTDs managed by WHO, two, guinea worm disease (by 2015) and yaws (by 2020) are targeted for eradication, and four (blinding trachoma, human African trypanosomiasis, leprosy, and lymphatic filariasis) for elimination by 2020. The goals look promising but 11 others are still highly prevalent.
Nov. 20, 2015
Jimmy Carter's Crusade
Published by Real Time with Bill Maher.
Bill Maher takes a moment during the Real Time season finale to praise Former President Jimmy Carter's efforts to eradicate the Guinea worm.
Oct. 30, 2015
Who Will Mourn the Guinea Worm?
Published By Devex
The founder of the Carter Center is well on his way to seeing it done with the help of public health workers and organizations around the world. They've sprayed ponds with insecticide, helped communities access water filters and isolated infected individuals to prevent the worm's offspring from finding new watery nurseries. They've studied the worm to understand its weaknesses and learned how to attack them. The results are among the most dramatic in the history of public health.
Oct. 29, 2015
Great News! Cases Of These Horrifying 31-Inch Parasites Are Dropping Sharply
Published by The Washington Post.
The CDC and the Carter Center released some great news about Dracunculiasis this Halloween season. It's not victory over sparkly vampires, though; cases of guinea worms (Dracunculus medinensis) decreased by 85 percent in 2015. The Latin name of "Little Dragon" refers to the fiery burning pain of these yard-long worms that live under human skin.
Oct. 13, 2015
A Noble and Laudable Nobel Laureate: William C. Campbell
Published by the Huffington Post.
Human parasites are on the run. The joint Carter Center/American Museum of Natural History exhibition "Countdown to Zero" bears witness to the triumph of a shared sense of humanity over neglected tropical diseases. President Carter's efforts have very nearly cast guinea worm to the pages of history.
Oct. 6, 2015
What Makes a Disease Eradicable
Published by The Economist.
Guinea worm and polio are the only targets currently sanctioned for global eradication by the World Health Organization. The International Task Force for Disease Eradication, a group of scientists and health experts established in 1988 by the Carter Center, reckons the list should include six more.
Oct. 1, 2015
Dracanculiasis (Guinea-worm): On the Verge of Eradication
Published by the Journal of The Association of Physicians of India.
Dracanculiasis is a crippling parasitic disease on the verge of eradication. During the mid 1980s there were an estimated 3.5 million cases in 20 countries worldwide, 17 of which were in Africa. Number of reported cases declined throughout 1990s to reach fewer than 10,000 cases in 2007.
Sept. 24, 2015
End of Guinea Worm in Sight for Carter Center
Published by Voice of America.
Dracunculiasis is a parasitic infection that once afflicted millions primarily in Africa and parts of South Asia. But as VOA's Kane Farabaugh reports, thanks to the efforts of former President Jimmy Carter and the Atlanta-based Carter Center working with government health ministries, the disease historically known as Guinea Worm is on the verge of becoming a historical footnote.
Aug. 31, 2015
The Tortoise and the Hare: Guinea Worm, Polio, and the Race to Eradication (PDF)
Published by PLOS Currents Outbreaks.
The eradication of a human infectious disease is a major challenge and, if achieved, represents an enormous achievement. This article explores the long and difficult journey toward eradication for polio and Guinea worm.
Aug. 25, 2015
Jimmy Carter's Fight to Eradicate the Guinea Worm
Published by NPR's Here & Now.
There are now only 11 guinea worm cases left in the world, compared to 3.6 million cases when The Carter Center started its eradication project in 1986. Here & Now's Robin Young speaks with the man who has led the effort since the start: Dr. Donald Hopkins.
Aug. 22, 2015
Jimmy Carter Remains Stalwart In Vow to Eradicate Guinea Worm
Published by NPR.
The disease doesn't kill people, like AIDS or Ebola, but it makes life excruciating for children and adults, keeping them from school or work, making it difficult to eat or sleep. Jimmy Carter heard about the problem in the mid-1980s from a U.N. official he knew, who said he couldn't find any group to take on the lowly Guinea worm. So in 1986, Mr. Carter got his Center involved.
Aug. 21, 2015
President Jimmy Carter's Most Successful Public Health Effort
Published by Huffington Post.
President Jimmy Carter is best known as a former president of the United States. What many may not know is that in addition to his achievement as a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a champion of human rights and several charitable causes, he has also forged immense efforts to fight diseases worldwide.
Aug. 21, 2015
Jimmy Carter Wants the Guinea Worm Gone by the Time He Dies. Here's Why.
Published by the Washington Post.
In remote parts of Africa where clean drinking water is difficult to come by, the parasite was once a common ailment. In the mid 1980s, when Carter first turned his attention to the disease, there were about 3.5 million cases annually. With The Carter Center spearheading eradication efforts, cases have dropped to just 11 known this year.
Aug. 20, 2015
Jimmy Carter: "I'd Like to See the Last Guinea Worm Die Before I Do."
Published by Slate.
In a touching and surprisingly funny moment during today's press conference discussing his cancer diagnosis, former President Jimmy Carter said, when asking about his remaining priorities, "I'd like to see the last Guinea worm die before I do." It may very well happen.
Aug. 20, 2015
Jimmy Carter: "I Want the Last Guinea Worm to Die Before I Do."
Published by Mashable.
Former President Jimmy Carter reflected on his life's work and own mortality during a press conference on Thursday in which he revealed that cancer had spread to his brain. When asked what goals he hopes to see realized before he dies, the 90-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner smiled broadly and said: "I want the last Guinea worm to die before I do."
Aug. 20, 2015
President Jimmy Carter's Amazing Last Wish
Published by Vox.
President Jimmy Carter has spent the past 30 years waging a war to eradicate Guinea worm – a battle he has nearly won.
Aug. 20, 2015
What Jimmy Carter Did After His 'Involuntary Retirement'
Published by NPR's Goats and Soda blog.
Back in January, Carter was beaming at the fact that the Carter Center's efforts had brought Guinea worm to the edge of eradication. Since the campaign against the parasite began in 1986, cases worldwide have plummeted from about 3.5 million in 20 countries to 126 in four countries last year.
July 31, 2015
Meeting of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication, April 2015
Published in Weekly Epidemiological Record, No. 31, 2015, 90, 381–392.
The 23rd meeting of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication (ITFDE) was convened at the Carter Center, Atlanta, GA, USA, on 28 April 2015 to discuss the global campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease (dracunculiasis). The ITFDE reviewed the status of the global Guinea Worm Eradication Program twice previously, in 2003 and 2008.
July 30, 2015
A Bit Gift to Fuel the Final Offensive Against Guinea Worm
Published by Inside Philanthropy.
The Carter Center isn't done with Guinea worm just yet, but the end is definitely nigh for this particular dread disease and CIFF's $20 million give is going to help it get past the finish line. CIFF's $20 million in funding will be spread out over six years to ensure that Guinea worm disease gets gone and stays gone.
June 25, 2015
We are Dedicated to Making the Guinea Worm Extinct
Published by Children's Investment Fund Foundation.
It may seem strange to celebrate the near extinction of a species. But we are committed to supporting the global effort to end Guinea worm disease forever. There have been just five reported cases of Guinea worm disease so far this year – four in Chad and one in Ethiopia. This compares to an estimated 3.5 million cases in 1986.
June 24, 2015
Congratulations to Health Workers Eradicating Guinea Worm
Published by Radio Tamazuj.
South Sudan has gone for seven months Guinea worm free, according to a recent statement from the health ministry undersecretary Dr. Makur Makur Koriom. War aside, this is a good news after the most endemic country South Sudan registered only 70 cases of Guinea worm disease in 2014, compared to 113 cases reported in 2013.
June 19, 2015
South Sudan Announces 7 Consecutive Months Without Confirmed Case of Guinea Worm Disease (PDF)
Published by the South Sudan Ministry of Health.
In 2006, the Ministry of Health's South Sudan Guinea Worm Eradication Programme began with the daunting task of developing a community-based surveillance system of detecting all Guinea worm cases and delivering interventions to break Guinea worm transmission. At the time, there were 20, 581 reported cases of Guinea worm disease. In 2014, South Sudan reported only 70 cases, marking a 99% reduction. From Oct. 2014-May 2015, South Sudan reported 0 confirmed cases, marking 7 months without a confirmed cases of Guinea worm disease.
June 19, 2015
Medics Celebrate "Remarkable" Step to Eliminating Flesh-Burrowing Worm
Published by Agence France Presse (AFP)
Health workers celebrated a key step towards eradicating the Guinea worm after South Sudan, once by far the worst affected country, said it had recorded no cases this year. The World Health Organization called the results "remarkable," and the progress comes despite a civil war raging in South Sudan for the past 18 months.
June 9, 2015
Wiping Out Guinea Worm
Published by the Dupont Media Center.
To date, smallpox is still the only human disease that has been completely eradicated. The only remaining virus is frozen in biohazard labs. Eliminating smallpox took a decades-long global effort. Guinea worm disease, after years and years of steady work and education, is on the brink of becoming the second human infection to go extinct. Just this January, the World Health Organization declared the African nation of Ghana free of the disease.
May 14, 2015
8 Horrific Diseases We're Close to Wiping Off the Planet for the First Time in History
Published by Business Insider.
Not too long ago, it was commonplace for people across the globe to die horrific, painful, disfiguring deaths from illnesses they couldn't control. Today, many of those diseases have begun to disappear. In many parts of the developed world, some of the worst of these diseases are gone completely. Their disappearance is a testament to the power of vaccines.
April 9, 2015
Running the Last Lap to End Guinea Worm Disease in Ethiopia
Published by the World Health Organization – Regional Office for Africa.
The final lap of a distance race is often the most difficult one, but in a land of runners – like Ethiopia – it is not as daunting as one might assume. The finish line is within sight and the medal is dangling in the air, everything is possible with the right determination and perseverance.
April 9, 2015
The Three-Foot-Long Footworm
Published by NOVA (PBS).
Imagine being infected by a three-foot-long worm that mates in your abdomen and squirts larvae out of a hole in your foot. That's what happens when you have a guinea worm. Luckily, these parasites are close to extinction. Find out how in this episode of Gross Science from NOVA.
March 28, 2015
Eradicating Guinea Worm
Published by CBC Radio.
The Guinea worm is a nasty, debilitating and damaging parasite that, thirty years ago, infected millions of people in twenty of the poorest countries in the world. Humans pick up the parasite from contaminated water, and it grows within the body to a meter-long worm, which eventually bursts out of the lower limbs, causing horrible discomfort, opening the body to infection, and spreading new larvae to further contaminate the environment.
March 10, 2015
Tug of War
Published by Slate.
If you ever travel to Mogos, South Sudan, make sure to bring a water filter – not just because of the dirty water, but because of the dirty looks. The filter signals your participation in the fight against the Guinea worm parasite.
Feb. 27, 2015
A Healthier World: Efforts to Wipe Out a Disease That Comes from Dirty Water are Working (PDF)
Published by TIME for Kids.
Thirsty? No problem. Here in the United States, filling your glass is as easy as a trip to the kitchen sink. But in many parts of the world, clean, safe drinking water is out of reach.
Feb. 9, 2015
Worm Parasite That Crippled Millions is Close to Eradication (PDF)
Published by The Times (London). Reprinted with permission
For as long as there have been humans, there has been Guinea worm disease. The parasite is mentioned in the bible, has long been endemic across tropics and is probably the inspiration for the symbol of medicine, the snake wrapped around the staff.
Feb. 3, 2015
Former President's Mission to Eradicate Guinea Worm
Published by BBC News.
There were 3.5 million cases of Guinea worm worldwide when Jimmy Carter's organisation started tackling the disease in 1986. Now there are just 126 cases globally – many of them in South Sudan and Mali.
Jan. 30, 2015
Dream Team: How Jimmy Carter Beat Guinea Worm, With Help from Bill Gates
Published by Inside Philanthropy.
In the early days of the Guinea Worm project, the Carter Center found that people in over 26,000 villages were affected by the parasite. Getting to the often remote villages to help Guinea Worm sufferers and was a huge roadblock for many NGOs and government agencies back then. As of 2015, the center has had a presence in each one of those villages. So why did Carter get involved with Guinea Worm eradication? Simply put, because no one else would. Global health issues had yet become a mega focus of philanthropy and, in any case, the philanthropic sector had many fewer resources than it does today.
Jan. 29, 2015
A Guinea Worm Hiding in Plain Sight
Published by American Museum of Natural History.
The new exhibition Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease highlights The Carter Center’s 30-year campaign to eradicate the Guinea worm, the parasite responsible for the age-old affliction dracunculiasis, or Guinea worm disease. As the Museum prepared for the exhibition’s opening, Lauri Halderman, senior director of exhibition interpretation, spotted the parasite in an unexpected place—carved into the surface of an elephant tusk on display in the Hall of African Peoples.
Jan. 16, 2015
Here's What Former President Jimmy Carter Wants to Be Remembered For
Published by Good Morning America.
What will historians say about former U.S. President Jimmy Carter 100 years from now? According to the 39th president, he hopes when people think of him, the words "peace and human rights" come to mind. That's what he told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos when asked what he'd want to be remembered for most.
Jan. 15, 2015
President Carter Prepares to Slay the Guinea Worm
Published by Bloomberg.
President Jimmy Carter saw his first Guinea worm poking from the nipple of a sick woman in a small village in Ghana about 30 years ago. Many wells and millions of filters later, he may also see his last.
Jan. 15, 2015
Ex-President Wins Campaign against Ghastly Guinea Worm
Published by Scientific American.
Jimmy Carter's efforts against the horribly painful guinea worm parasitic disease have helped lower the number of cases from 3.5 million in 1986 to just 126 last year.
Jan. 13, 2015
'Watch Out, Guinea Worm, Here Comes Jimmy Carter'
Published by NPR.
This past fall, President Jimmy Carter, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, celebrated his 90th birthday. Looking ahead, he's also hoping to celebrate the global eradication of Guinea worm disease (also known as dracunculiasis).
Jan. 13, 2015
Q&A: Former President Jimmy Carter on American Museum of Natural History Exhibit
Published by The Wall Street Journal.
A new exhibit on eradicating disease opens Jan. 13, 2015, at the American Museum of Natural History. "Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease" focuses on devastating illnesses that afflict more than 1 billion people, mostly in the developing world.
Jan. 13, 2015
President Jimmy Carter's 'Countdown To Zero'
Published by HuffPost Live.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter joins HuffPost Live's Marc Lamont Hill to discuss "Countdown to Zero," a new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History developed with The Carter Center, which explores innovations working to eradicate global diseases.
Jan. 12, 2015
Complete Interview: President Jimmy Carter
Published by Yahoo! News with Katie Couric.
Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric talks with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter about his fight to eradicate Guinea worm disease, the terrorist attacks in Paris, and President Obama's steps to normalize relations with Cuba.
Jan. 12, 2015
Jon Stewart and Jimmy Carter Discuss Guinea Worm Eradication, Peace
Published by The Daily Show.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter discusses the Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program and current world events with host Jon Stewart.
Dec. 16, 2014
Good Riddance
Published by The Economist: Intelligent Life, November/December 2014, 76-82.
A generation ago, guinea-worm disease was bringing misery to millions; now it is down to two cases a week. Its nemesis is Donald Hopkins, who has already helped to see off smallpox. He tells Tom Whipple how to eradicate a disease.
Dec. 1, 2014
The Last Bastions of Guinea Worm Disease (PDF)
Published by Bulletin of the World Health Organization. Volume 92, Number 12, December 2014, 849-924.
Conflict and a new disease pattern are hampering efforts to eradicate Guinea worm disease in the last four endemic countries.
Oct. 23, 2014
Inching Toward Eradication: Jimmy Carter's Fight Against the Guinea Worm
Published by The New York Times.
Since 1986, former President Jimmy Carter has devoted his foundation, the Carter Center, to the eradication of Guinea worm, a parasitic disease transmitted in contaminated drinking water. The end is near. Only 148 cases were found in the world last year, and Dr. Donald R. Hopkins, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now leading the foundation's efforts, said this year's total should be closer to 100. Press Release: Eradication Efforts Against Global Disease Are Focus of Countdown to Zero | American Museum of Natural History
Oct. 10, 2014
Monthly Report on Dracunculiasis Cases, January-August 2014 (PDF)
Published by Weekly Epidemiological Record, No. 41, 2014, 89, 455–456.
In order to monitor the progress accomplished towards dracunculiasis eradication, district-wise surveillance indicators, a line list of cases and a line list of villages with cases are collected by the national dracunculiasis eradication programmes. The Carter Center assists the endemic countries in compiling the information in this report.
Oct. 9, 2014
Jimmy Carter's Foundation is Close to Eradicating a Deadly Disease
Published by Financial Times.
Becoming US president from a humble farming background in rural Georgia is hard to surpass. However, the biggest achievement of Jimmy Carter, who turned 90 this month, could yet be to come. Since 1986 – five years after he left the White House – he has been pursuing a goal arguably more ambitious than anything he did in office: the eradication of Guinea worm disease. Nearly three decades later, success is tantalizingly near. In 1986, the disease afflicted an estimated 3.5m people a year in 21 countries in Africa and Asia. So far this year, fewer than 100 cases have been reported in four countries.
Sept. 26, 2014
Guinea Worm – A Success Story (link no longer available)
Published by Inspiring Capital.
In 1986, the year of my birth, Guinea Worm afflicted 3.5 million annually in 21 countries in Africa and Asia. For decades the raging infection was considered a low priority-as typically a non-fatal affliction-by international organizations. In 1986, having recognized the devastating effect on food production, education and quality of life, The Carter Center set out to change all that. Working closely with ministries of health and local communities, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF, The Carter Center launched an initiative centered on community-based intervention to wipe out the ancient disease.
Sept. 9, 2014
This Endangered Species Deserves to Die a Painful Death
Published by Good Magazine.
As of the end of July, global health organizations had reported 53 new cases of guinea worm disease around the world. As many folks don't know much about guinea worm, 53 might seem like a pretty scant number - it could equally signify outbreak or containment. But what that number indicates is actually tantamount to a revolution in healthcare. In 1986, health officials estimated that there were 3.5 million new cases of guinea worm disease annually across 20 countries. That means in just under three decades, we've eliminated more than 99 percent of cases, and restricted it to the most remote and troubled regions of four African countries: Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, and South Sudan.
Aug.11, 2014
Lessons From the Low-Tech Defeat of the Guinea Worm
Published by The New York Times Blog.
Given all the talk about the hepatitis C drug Sovaldi in recent weeks, as well as the high prices on many other recent innovations, you might think that we're entering a time when leaps forward happen only at great cost. That misses the point. It also strengthens the false notion that we can move forward only through advances in technology.
July 22, 2014
Guinea Worm is Almost Eradicated, in One of the Biggest Public Health Wins Ever
Published by Vox
It's been decades in the making, but we may finally be close to eradicating the guinea worm, a nonfatal but debilitating parasitic infection that affected millions of people as recently as the 1980s. NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff reports that the Carter Center, the NGO that has lead the charge to eradicate guinea worm, has counted only 17 cases of the disease in the first five months of this year, compared to 68 in the equivalent time period last year.
July 8, 2014
Going Going, Almost Gone: A Worm Verges on Extinction
Published by NPR's Goats and Soda blog.
Guinea worm is about as close to a real-life Alien event as you can get - a parasitic worm mates inside a person's abdomen, grows up to 3 feet long and then exits (painfully) from a blister. But the worm's final chapter is near: The world is closer than ever to wiping the parasite off the face of the Earth. There were only 17 cases of Guinea worm in the first five months of this year, the Carter Center reported Monday. That's a 75 percent reduction from this time last year, when 68 people reported infections.
June 12, 2014
City of Chicago Honorary Resolution for Dr. Donald R. Hopkins
Published by City of Chicago.
On Wednesday, May 28, 2014, Alderman Michele Smith honored Dr. Hopkins with a resolution from the City of Chicago commending him for his work in health, including Guinea worm eradication.
May 14, 2014
Peer Pressure Can Be a Lifesaver
Published by New York Times Fixes blog.
The only way to prevent Guinea worm disease is to convince people to stop drinking contaminated water. Health workers figured out part of that challenge when they devised an inexpensive, cloth pipe filter that they distributed free throughout Sudan and other parts of Africa. But they struck epidemiological gold with a simple behavioral tweak: adding nylon cords to the pipes, so that people could wear them around their necks. Volunteers spread the message that contaminating water is an unneighborly act. Local leaders began wearing the filters, which over time became a symbol of good judgment and respect for the community's health, according to Dr. Donald Hopkins, the vice president of health programs at The Carter Center. Based in part on these efforts, Guinea worm disease is close to being eradicated.
May 11, 2014
Lifelines: How to Slay a Dragon
Published by Al Jazeera English: Lifelines – The Quest for Global Health.
At the end of 2013, the Carter Center reported only 148 cases of Guinea worm worldwide. This is down from an estimated 3.5 million cases in 1986. There is no cure or vaccine. Rather the dramatic reduction in Guinea worm cases is due to behavioral changes. Former US President Jimmy Carter has devoted his philanthropic organization's resources to eliminating this disease, and he speaks of his desire to see the last few cases banished from the world in his own lifetime. Smallpox is the only human disease in history to be successfully eradicated. Could Guinea worm be the next?
Related: Lifelines – The Quest for Global Health also profiled the Center's River Blindness Elimination Program and Trachoma Control Program.
May 9, 2014
Hunting the "Fiery Serpent": The Quest to Wipe Out Guinea Worm
Published by CNN – Vital Signs.
Guinea worm, sometimes known as the "fiery serpent," is not on the radar of most Western governments, especially with so few cases remaining worldwide causing the "cost per case" to increase dramatically. Dr. Ernesto Ruiz-Tiben, who directs the Carter Center's program, is determined to find these cases and remove the disease from our planet once and for all. "We'll be standing until the last worm goes," he concludes. "As communities learn about the worm and its life cycle, they discover that they can get rid of it by themselves. We give them the lessons, but they do the work," says Ruiz-Tiben. "That's why it can be eradicated worldwide."
May 9, 2014
Dracunculiasis Eradication – Global Surveillance Summary, 2013 (PDF)
Published by Weekly Epidemiological Record, No. 19, 2014, 89, 189–204.
This report summarizes the progress made toward eradicating Guinea worm disease through the end of 2013.
May 8, 2014
La Côte d'Ivoire rejoint la liste des 198 pays et territoires déclarés exempt de ver de Guinée
Published by the World Health Organization.
La Côte d'Ivoire a reçu officiellement, le 08 mai 2014, ses lettres de certification pour l'éradication du ver de Guinée (dracunculose). Le Représentant de l'OMS en Côte d'Ivoire, Dr Allarangar Yokouidé, a, à l'occasion d'une cérémonie solennelle organisée au Cabinet du Ministre de la Santé et de la lutte contre le sida, remis à Madame la Ministre, Dr Raymonde Goudou Coffie, les deux lettres. L'une est signée par la Directrice Générale de l'OMS, Dr Margaret Chan, et l'autre est signée par le Directeur Régional de l'OMS pour l'Afrique, Dr Luis Gomes Sambo. Aux partenaires, notamment l'OMS, l'UNICEF, le Centre Carter, MAP international et le CDC Atlanta, elle a adressé ses vifs remerciements et toute la gratitude du gouvernement pour les appuis apportés au cours de la longue période de lutte contre cette maladie.
April 4, 2014
Carter Center Marks Progress in Fight Against Guinea Worm, River Blindness
Published by Voice of America.
Guinea worm disease and river blindness are among 17 tropical diseases the World Health Organization considers neglected. Thanks to the efforts of the Atlanta-based Carter Center - founded by former president Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn - focused treatment and prevention are leading to the elimination of one, and the extinction of another.
April 2, 2014
National Review Meeting Held on Guinea Worm Eradication Program
Published by the Ethiopian Public Health Institute.
The Ethiopian Public Health Institute, EPHI has conducted a National Review Meeting on the Ethiopian Dracunculiasis Eradication program that was held from March 17 to 18, 2014, at Wabishebelle hotel, Addis Ababa. Dr. Zerihun Tadesse, representative of the Carter Center, in his keynote speech said that, "on behalf of the Carter Center I would like to express our renewed commitment to further strengthen our support to the Government of Ethiopia in its fight against Guinea Worm Eradication program at this last chapter."
March 31, 2014
Celebrating Nigeria's Guinea Worm Free Status
Published by the News Agency of Nigeria.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), recently certified Nigeria as a Guinea Worm Disease (GWD) free country. Former Head of State Yakubu Gowon, said that when former U.S. President Jimmy Carter asked him to join in the fight against GWD, he did not hesitate as he felt a sense of duty to join the campaign. "When Carter asked me to join him, and I learnt there were about 800,000 cases of GWD in Nigeria during my time, and I did not do anything, my conscience was pricked. I said to myself, I must do anything this team wants me to do to ensure the eradication of this debilitating disease."
March 19, 2014
Ethiopia Poised to Interrupt Transmission of Guinea Worm Disease in 2014 (PDF)
Published by the World Health Organization.
After more than 30 years of continuous struggle, only 148 cases of Guinea worm disease were reported globally in 2013. Today, there are only four endemic countries: Chad, Ethiopia, Mali and South Sudan. Three cases were reported across the border of South Sudan in Sudan in 2013, where the last indigenous case was recorded in 2002. "The determination of the endemic countries and support from The Carter Center, UNICEF and other local partners have been crucial," said Dr Gautam Biswas, Team Leader of WHO's Dracunculiasis Eradication Unit."
March 17, 2014
Nigeria's Great Achievement: Guinea Worm Free
Published by The Global Dispatch.
The World Health Organization (WHO) presented certificates to five African countries today indicating their new guinea-worm free status–Somalia, Cote d'Ivoire, South Africa, Niger and Nigeria. Congratulations to all. I would like to focus on the great achievement of Nigeria. In 1986, the disease afflicted an estimated 3.5 million people a year in 21 countries in Africa and Asia. From that 3.5 million cases in 1986, provisional numbers for 2013 reveal a mere 148 cases in four countries in 2013, a 99.9 percent decrease!
Jan. 30, 2014
Guinea Worm: Lethal Plague Finally Bids Nigeria Farewell
Published by The Nigerian Tribune.
For more than three decades, Nigeria had grappled with the guinea worm menace, earning the dubious title of the most endemic country at a time. It was lagging behind compared with countries like Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and a host of others.
Jan. 25, 2014
Good Riddance – A Nasty Disease is About to be History
Published by The Economist.
Dracunculiasis is almost gone. According to a report published on January 16th by the Carter Centre, an American charity, only 148 people now harbour Guinea worm, which causes it. Dracunculiasis is rarely fatal, but it is debilitating. So in 1986 the Carter Centre organised a campaign, which it still leads, to eradicate it. This is possible because humans are the only vertebrate host. The worm's life cycle can thus be interrupted by identifying those infested, and stopping the worm breaking up as it emerges from them. That, plus cleaning up the water, has reduced the number of cases from 900,000 in 20 countries, in 1989, to today's handful. Most (113) are in South Sudan, with isolated others in Chad, Ethiopia and Mali.
Jan. 17, 2014
Guinea Worm Eradication at Risk in South Sudanese War
Published by Science Magazine. Subscription required to read the full article.
Next week, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was scheduled to travel to the South Sudanese capital Juba and announce that the world is now closer than ever to eradicating guinea worm disease. In all of 2013, only 149 people, in just four African countries, suffered from the painful, debilitating infection, according to the provisional figures that Carter was due to announce. South Sudan, an impoverished country that split off from Sudan in 2011 after decades of civil war, is the main remaining stronghold, with 114 cases; but even that number is down 78% compared with 2012. But now that progress is in peril. In December, violence erupted between rebels and the South Sudanese government, leading the Carter Center in Atlanta, in charge of the 3-decade fight against the guinea worm, to evacuate its expat staff of more than 30 people and cancel the Juba meeting.
Jan. 16, 2014
Guinea Worm Said to Infect Few in 2013
Published by The New York Times.
Only 148 cases of Guinea worm disease were found in the world in 2013, a 73 percent drop from the 542 cases found one year earlier, the Carter Center announced Thursday. Along with polio, Guinea worm is one of two diseases hovering on the brink of extinction, with fewer than 1,000 cases annually worldwide. When the Carter Center began its campaign in 1986, there were an estimated 3.5 million annual Guinea worm infections across Africa and Asia.
Jan. 16, 2014
Jimmy Carter Announces Guinea Worm Disease on the Brink of Eradication (Video)
Published by The Huffington Post.
A painful and debilitating disease which dates back to ancient times is on the brink of eradication, former President Jimmy Carter announced on HuffPost Live Thursday. The latest provisional numbers for cases of Guinea worm disease have reached a historic low of 148 people worldwide in 2013. President Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter founded the Carter Center in 1982 and in the mid-80s began an international campaign to target Guinea worm disease. In 1986, the number of cases was estimated to be 3.5 million, in 21 countries throughout Africa and Asia. By 2012, the number had been reduced by 99.9 percent with 542 cases reported in four endemic nations.
The full interview with President Carter is available here >
Jan. 16, 2014
From Millions of Cases to 148: Guinea Worm's Days Are Numbered
Published by NPR's Shots blog.
Guinea worm, pack your bags. The world recorded only 148 cases of Guinea worm last year, the Carter Center said Thursday. That's nearly three-quarters less than in 2012, and a tiny fraction compared to the 3.5 million cases back in 1986."That's very exciting because the number of cases at the end of 2013 are much lower than they were in 2012," says Ernesto Ruiz-Tiben, who directs the Guinea worm eradication efforts at the Carter Center.
Jan. 16, 2014
For The First Time Since 1979, The World Is On The Verge Of Eradicating An Infectious Disease
Published by Think Progress.
During an appearance on HuffPost Live on Thursday, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced major progress in the fight to eradicate Guinea worm. Worldwide reported cases were cut in half to 542 in 2012 and provisional data indicate there were just 148 cases reported in 2013, with the vast majority occurring in the war-torn nation of South Sudan. "This is the first time since 1979 that we're on the verge of eradicating a disease," said Carter. The global eradication campaign now moves to its final and most difficult stage, setting up Guinea worm to become the only disease other than small pox to be eradicated worldwide and the first disease to be eliminated entirely without the use of vaccines or medication.
Jan. 16, 2014
Guinea Worm Being Eradicated Worldwide – Carter Centre
Published by Premium Times (Nigeria).
The Carter Centre, an international guinea worm eradication campaign, has disclosed that there were only 148 recorded cases of guinea worm in the world in 2013.The Carter Centre leads the international Guinea worm eradication campaign and works in close partnership with national programs, the World Health Organization, WHO; U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC; and UNICEF. However, WHO is the only organization that can officially certify the eradication of a disease. The WHO has certified Nigeria a guinea worm free country with the certificate presented to President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday.
Jan. 16, 2014
El primer animal que va a ser aniquilado a propósito pasa de infectar a millones a sólo 148
Published by Materia.
La campaña de erradicación del espantoso gusano de Guinea acorrala al parásito, que hace tres décadas afectaba a 3,5 millones de personas cada año, en un puñado de aldeas de África. El Centro Carter, la organización sin ánimo de lucro fundada por el expresidente de EEUU Jimmy Carter, ha anunciado hoy que en 2013 sólo se registraron 148 casos de personas infectadas por el parásito. Es una caída del 73% respecto a los 542 casos de 2012 y del 99,9999% respecto a hace tres décadas, cuando el gusano devoraba las entrañas de 3,5 millones de personas cada año, en su mayoría niños, en una veintena de países en África y Asia. Como el gusano necesita a un ser humano en su ciclo de vida, si se evita la infección, el animal desaparece.
Dec. 18, 2013
Guinea Worm Cases Declining
Published by The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2013; 310 (23):2498.
If current trends continue, reported cases of dracunculiasis, commonly called Guinea worm, could reach a historic low in 2013. Recent data show that in countries where dracunculiasis is endemic, cases decreased by 77%, from 393 during January to June 2012 to 89 during the first 6 months of this year. Based on reports from last year, when three-fourths of all cases occurred from January to June, health officials expect that fewer than 150 will be reported by the end of this year.
Nov. 14, 2013
The Patron Saint of Peanut Allergies
Published by Slate.com.
President Barack Obama signed a bill this week that encourages schools to be prepared to administer life-saving doses of epinephrine to students in the throes of severe allergic reactions. Kudos, Mr. President, on a great first step. But given that an estimated 8 percent of American kids have food allergies, I can't be alone in wishing yesterday will be merely a preview to the main event. Perhaps Obama could find a guide in President Jimmy Carter. Malia, if you're still reading, find your father's Rolodex and invite President Carter over for a peanut-free dinner…get him talking about dracunculiasis, also known as guinea worm disease.
Nov. 5, 2013
Jimmy Carter Fights to Eradicate Diseases
Published by ABC's "Good Morning America."
The former president's passion project, The Carter Center, helps get medicine to some of the most remote locations in the world. President Carter was in New York to attend a celebration at Pfizer Headquarters on November 5th to honor the 15th anniversary of the International Trachoma Initiative.
Oct. 30, 2013
The Art of Eradication
Published by Harvard Public Health magazine.
In the early 1980s Guinea worm disease struck millions from western India to Senegal. Now, as a result of the Carter Center's efforts, Guinea worm disease has fallen from 3.5 million cases in 1986 to fewer than 600 cases globally in 2012. In 2013, the number is expected to be even lower. The Harvard School of Public Health highlights the contributions of alumnus Carter Center Vice President Donald Hopkins who oversees all of the Center's health programs.
Oct. 24, 2013
Slaying "Little Dragons": Guinea Worm Moves Toward Eradication
Published by the NPR blog "Shots." Reposted by more than 175 outlets.
The world has eradicated just one human disease: smallpox. But another illness is getting tantalizingly close to elimination. A report Thursday puts a parasitic worm ahead of polio in the race to extinction. The world recorded just 89 cases of Guinea worm in the first six months of 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in the journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. That's a 77 percent reduction in cases over the same period last year.
Sept. 25, 2013
Has the Guinea Worm Been Eradicated?
Published by Sound Medicine.
Donald Hopkins, M.D., vice president for health programs at the Carter Center, helped eradicate smallpox. Now he is close to eliminating Guinea worm disease, an infection spread by drinking water contaminated with water fleas carrying the parasitic larvae. The parasites mature in the abdomen and work their way to the surface after a year. The worms create painful lesions that release hundreds of thousands of larvae when submerged in water. "Sound Medicine" host Anne Ryder speaks with Dr. Hopkins about Guinea worm and the Carter Center's efforts to eradicate the disease.
Sept. 24, 2013
1988 To 2013: Nigeria's Guinea Worm Eradication Journey
Published by Daily Trust (Nigeria).
In informal terms, Nigeria is now free of guinea worm. Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu was told two months ago while being debriefed by an international verification team which visited Nigeria and did a tour of the country between June 27 and July 8 to verify the claim by Nigeria that no guinea worm transmission exists anywhere in the country… The Carter Center has been in Nigeria (with Jos as its administrative base) since 1988 when the guinea worm eradication programme started.
Sept. 23, 2013
Finding Locally-Grown Answers to Global Health Questions
Published by Saporta Report.
The Carter Center and Google teamed up this month to host an insightful conversation between three well-known advocates of U.S. action on global health. The Google+ webcast brought together former President Jimmy Carter, Dr. Donald Hopkins, vice-president for health programs at the Carter Center, and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof…In my view, one of the best points made was Dr. Hopkins' view that ultimately the answers to solve global health problems must be locally-grown.
Sept. 18, 2013
Decades of Dedication to Fighting Disease (PDF)
Published by Creating Chemistry.
Founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, The Carter Center has led the Guinea Worm Eradication Program since the1980s. With Guinea worm disease poised to be the second-ever human disease to be eradicated, Jimmy Carter and Dr. Donald R. Hopkins – the Center's Vice President for Health Programs – talk about the fight against neglected tropical diseases.
Sept. 18, 2013
Shining a Light on Hidden Diseases (PDF)
Published by Creating Chemistry.
There is a group of diseases that have plagued humanity for centuries and which today blight the lives of a billion people in 149 countries worldwide. The impact on individuals and communities is immense and yet, until recently, they attracted little attention – and little was done to combat them. That has changed over the past few decades. Efforts are now beginning to show results. But the battle is not yet won.
Sept. 17, 2013
Appraising Nigeria's Quest for Guinea Worm-Free Certification
Published by Hallmark (Nigeria).
From all indications, Nigeria is set to be certified free of guinea worm disease, which has ravaged parts of the country over the years … International organisations in charge of efforts to eradicate guinea worm disease worldwide have reaffirmed that the disease has been eradicated in Nigeria via its partnership with stakeholders. For instance, Dr Emmanuel Miri, the Country Representative of the Carter Centre in Nigeria, recently asserted that Nigeria was free from guinea worm disease. Miri, who noted that the non-governmental organisation had been waging a war against guinea worm disease in the past 16 years, said that the centre had succeeded in efforts to wipe it out of Nigeria.
Aug. 29, 2013
River Blindness, Guinea Worm Disease and More: The Work and Accomplishments of The Carter Center
Published by The Global Dispatch.
The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, is guided by a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering; it seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health, according to their website. In the area of health programs, the Center fights six preventable diseases - Guinea worm, river blindness, trachoma, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, and malaria - by using health education and simple, low-cost methods. Earlier this week I had the opportunity to speak to the expert that directs all of the health programs of The Carter Center, Vice-President of Health Programs, Donald R. Hopkins, M.D., M.P.H.
Aug. 28, 2013
"I'll Defeat Guinea Worm, Then Retire"
Published by BBC World Service.
Donald Hopkins is an American doctor who has done more than many to rid the world of Guinea worm. It's a horrifying disease spread through drinking water and the worm grows within its host until a metre long. Then it bursts out of the body causing great pain and incapacitating its host. Dr Hopkins began his career at Morehouse College, the all-black college in Atlanta where Martin Luther King also studied some years earlier. He has set himself the goal of eradicating Guinea worm from Africa and he's very nearly there.
Aug. 9, 2013
Of Worms and Water: In the Field With The Carter Center
Published by Huffington Post.
I travel as a photographer shooting images for non-profit advocacy; I am a visual storyteller in a village, in Northern Ghana, with The Carter Center. There is a Banyan tree that arcs and frames a group of young girls, gathered outside a school. Their heads dance as they lean in to catch gossip then throw them back, falling into giggles, so as I enter I see the schoolyard composing into color, dance and music. The girls are waiting for their teacher to create order, so that they can begin to learn about water and worms.
Aug. 6, 2013
Guinea Worm Disease is "Relatively-Contained Problem"
Published by BBC News.
There may be an important breakthrough soon in the effort to eradicate a dangerous, debilitating disease that has long been a scourge in Africa. Guinea worm disease, is a crippling parasitic disease that, until the 1980s, was affecting around 3.5 million people in more than 20 countries. But the World Health Organisation believes that within two years it may be gone. Ann Mills, Professor of health economics and policy at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the Today programme: "It's a relatively contained problem which is partly why it's feasible to eradicate it."
Aug. 1, 2013
Demise of a Disease (PDF)
Published by Ohio Wesleyan University.
Dracunculiasis, or Guinea worm disease, is far from the lives and lifestyles of most of us. But then, we are not the poorest of the poor, living in places such as Chad, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Mali (the four countries in which the disease can still be found) - areas with limited or no basic health care services and unclean water, in which a roundworm parasite thrives.
July 27, 2013
An Extinction to Celebrate
Published by The New Yorker.
There is no vaccine for guinea worm, and there are no drugs that can cure those who are infected. The pest once afflicted hundreds of millions of people from the Gambia to India. But the worm is now gone from Guinea, and from almost everywhere else. At last count, there were only five hundred and forty-two people infected, down from an estimated 3.5 million in 1986. Of the remaining cases, exactly five hundred and twenty-one are in South Sudan. We know these numbers with precision because of a campaign that President Jimmy Carter began in 1986 to destroy the worm. That community-driven process, coördinated by the Carter Center and executed by the South Sudan Ministry of Health, village volunteers, and trained technical advisors, is driving the parasite out of its last remaining human hosts.
July 25, 2013
Watch "The Eradicator: Donald Hopkins - A Lifetime Spent Working to Eradicate Deadly Diseases"
Published by the Harvard School of Public Health.
Donald Hopkins, MPH '70, and currently a vice president at the Carter Center, has spent a career helping to eradicate two major tropical diseases. Beginning in the 1960s he helped lead efforts to vaccinate people in Africa and Asia against smallpox, a disease that was declared eradicated in 1980. In the 1980s, he started the Guinea Worm Disease Eradication Program at the Centers for Disease Control and in 1987 joined the Carter Center. Hopkins has spent the last three decades working to eradicate Guinea worm disease, which in 1986 affected some 3.5 million people. At the beginning of 2013, there were fewer than 600 cases left in the world.
July 13, 2013
Nigeria Eyes Guinea Worm-Free Certification
Published by IQ4 News (South Africa).
The International Certification Team for Guinea Worm Eradication, has expressed satisfaction with Nigeria's sustained effort towards eradication of Guinea worm.
June 24, 2013
Gowon Lauds Carter Foundation's Effort to Eradicate Guinea Worm
Published by the News Agency of Nigeria.
Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon on Monday in Abuja lauded the efforts of the Carter Foundation at eradicating guinea worm in Nigeria. Gowon made the commendation when members of the International Certification Team from the WHO visited the Yakubu Gowon Foundation in Abuja. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the team is on a three-week mission to possibly certify Nigeria guinea worm-free.
May 30, 2013
Harvard Awards 9 Honorary Degrees
Published by the Harvard Gazette.
As an African-American growing up during segregation, Donald R. Hopkins determined, as he once put it, "to show the world what I could do." And while Hopkins achieved his childhood dream of becoming a doctor, he more than lived up to his initial promise. In fighting for the eradication of both smallpox and Guinea worm disease - two of the 20th century's most horrific diseases - he has helped save the lives of and prevent the suffering of millions.
May 30, 2013
Abreu, Menino, Pagels, and Oprah: The Honorands
Published by Harvard Magazine.
Donald R. Hopkins, a graduate of Morehouse College, earned his medical degree from the University of Chicago and his master's in public health from Harvard. During two decades at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he served as deputy director (1984-1987) and acting director (1985); he has been an assistant professor of tropical public health at the Harvard School of Public Health (which recognized him with its 2012 Alumni Award of Merit), and directed the program to eradicate smallpox and control measles in Sierra Leone from 1967 to 1969.
May 29, 2013
Peaceful Priorities (PDF)
Published by Glass Magazine.
In theory, The Carter Center sounds like a knight in shining armour, making tall promises to come and save the day. In practice? This is exactly what it is… Proof of this lies in one particularly admirable accomplishment: The Carter Center is close to completely eradicating an illness by the name of "Guinea worm disease."
May 28, 2013
Video: Eradicating the Guinea Worm: Kelly Callahan at TEDxAtlanta
Published by TEDxAtlanta. (Run time: 13:40)
The Carter Center's Kelly Callahan shares how the simplest solutions, applied at huge scale, have almost achieved humankind's second complete eradication of a disease that once plagued millions of people.
May 14, 2013
Niger Offers Cash Reward to Help Eradicate Guinea Worm
Published by Reuters.
Niger is offering cash rewards to anyone reporting a case of Guinea worm as part of efforts to permanently eradicate the parasitic disease in the impoverished West African nation, the health ministry said. Though it once afflicted around 3.5 million people annually across Asia and Africa, according to the U.S.-based Carter Center, Guinea worm disease is now on the verge of being eradicated worldwide.
May 13, 2013
Dracunculiasis Eradication – Global Surveillance Summary, 2012 (PDF)
Published in Weekly Epidemiological Record, No. 19, 2013, 88, 189–200.
This report summarizes the progress made in the Guinea worm eradication goal until the end of 2012.
April 22, 2013
Profiles in Science: Donald R. Hopkins on Guinea Worm Disease
Published by The New York Times.
As the world inches closer to the eradication of Guinea worm disease, Dr. Donald R. Hopkins reflects on how the prejudice he experienced growing up in the American south helped him communicate with the rural villages most affected by the parasite. Dr. Hopkins is the vice president for health programs at the Carter Center, the group founded by former President Jimmy Carter to advance human rights and fight disease.
April 20, 2013
Death of the Guinea Worm Draws Near
Published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In 1986, roughly 3.5 million people in 21 countries across Africa and Asia contracted Guinea worm. That was the year The Carter Center launched a global campaign to eradicate the disease, which is spread through contaminated water. Last year, thanks largely to the efforts of the center, the CDC and the World Health Organization, there were 542 reported cases.
April 9, 2013
President Carter on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | Part 1 > | Part 2 >
Aired on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
President Carter appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and explained how The Carter Center has nearly eradicated Guinea worm disease. President Carter also discussed latrine building in Ethiopia to prevent trachoma and answered a few questions about the news of the day.
April 3, 2013
Guinea Worm Disease on the Way Out
Published by the Australian Broadcasting Company.
The human race has only ever wiped out one single infectious disease - and that was smallpox. We could wipe out smallpox because it had just one single reservoir - people like you and me. Well, for the same reason, we might be able to eradicate another very nasty infectious disease - Guinea worm disease.
Feb. 27, 2013
El hombre que va a Extinguir un Animal a Propósito por Primera vez en la Historia
Published by the Spanish publication Materia.
El epidemiólogo Ernesto Ruiz-Tiben, de 74 años, está a punto de culminar la campaña de erradicación del horroroso gusano de Guinea, a la que ha dedicado las últimas tres décadas de su vida.
Feb. 8, 2013
When Species Extermination is a Good Thing
Published by The Wall Street Journal.
It's not a race, exactly, but there's an intriguing uncertainty about whether a former U.S. president or a software magnate will cause the next deliberate extinction of a species in the wild. Will Jimmy Carter eradicate Guinea worm before Bill Gates eradicates polio?
Jan. 24, 2013
The Guinea Worm: A Fond Obituary
Published by the National Geographic blog "The Loom."
Its official name is Dracunculus medinensis. It's commonly known the guinea worm. Measuring up to four feet long, the worms were lodged in the connective tissue inside the legs of the Tambura patients, their head poking out of a blister. The only way to get rid of the guinea worms was to wind them onto sticks, which nurses then twisted, slowly and steadily, for two weeks…. In 1986, 3.5 million people suffered from guinea worm infections across Asia and Africa. In 2012, there were only 542 cases in the entire world. The vast majority of those cases–521–occurred in South Sudan.
Jan. 22, 2013
Health Check Interview with Dr. Paul Emerson
Published by Voice of America.
Host Linord Moudou interviews Dr. Paul Emerson about NTDs. with a specific focus on the Center's Guinea worm and trachoma work.
Jan. 19, 2013
Inching Closer to the Demise of a Stubborn Parasitic Worm
Published by the NPR blog "Shots."
What's the big fuss about Guinea worm, a parasite that now infects just a few hundred people? Well, the public health community finally has the nasty bug's back against the wall. There were only 542 cases of Guinea worm worldwide last year, the Carter Center said this week. That's 48 percent less than in 2011. And it's a mere blip compared to the 3.5 million cases back in 1986.
Jan. 18, 2013
Guinea Worm Eradication Campaign Posts Another Milestone
Published by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
An international effort to eradicate Guinea worm disease, spearheaded by former President Jimmy Carter and the Carter Center, reached another milestone. The center announced that the campaign has reached "its final stages" with 542 cases reported worldwide in 2012. These provisional case numbers, reported by ministries of health in the remaining four endemic nations , show that cases of the disease were reduced by nearly half last year. According to the Carter Center, there were 3.5 million cases of Guinea worm in 21 nations in Africa and Asia in 1986.
Jan. 18, 2013
Rare Tropical Disease Close to Eradication
Published by CNN.com/Health.
A rare tropical disease called Guinea worm is closer to being eradicated, according to former President Jimmy Carter and other experts. There are now only 542 known cases of Guinea worm left worldwide, as of 2012, representing a 48% decrease from 2011, officials said Thursday at a news conference. "We cannot rest until we get and contain the very last case," said Dr. Donald R. Hopkins, affiliated with the Carter Center in Atlanta, which has been instrumental in the effort to wipe out Guinea worm.
Jan. 17, 2013
Fighting in Mali Hampers Guinea Worm Disease Eradication
Published by The New York Times.
Fighting in Mali has damaged the global effort to eradicate Guinea worm disease, former President Jimmy Carter said Thursday. Guinea worm, also known as dracunculiasis, and polio are the two diseases closest to total eradication; each is down to fewer than 1,000 known cases.
Nov. 1, 2012
Yaws Eradication: Facing Old Problems, Raising New Hopes (PDF)
Published by PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
One cannot help but recalling that the most advanced eradication programme, targeting Guinea worm (dracunculiasis), is basically in the hands of the Carter Center in Atlanta (United States), which recently received $40 million in donations from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to complete its job. In 2011, cases of Guinea worm disease occurred in three remaining endemic nations - South Sudan, Mali, and Ethiopia - and in Chad, where there was an isolated outbreak.
Oct. 13, 2012
'Guinea Worm' Close to Extinction
Published by Al Jazeera English.
A parasite that infects people called the Guinea worm can grow up to a metre in length and lives under the skin.
Oct. 10, 2012
Eradication: Tide May Be Turning Against Guinea Worm
Published by the Financial Times. Note: The Financial Times website requires that you register (for free) to access the full article.
With cases of guinea worm disease down from 3.5m in 21 countries in 1986 to a matter of hundreds in four African countries today, the near eradication of this painful and debilitating disease is being celebrated as a global health success story. However, unlike many disease eradication programmes, no drugs or immunisations were available. Progress in this fight has depended on aggressive advocacy efforts at every level of society.
Oct. 10, 2012
A Little Effort Can Produce Great Strides
Published by the Financial Times. Note: The Financial Times website requires that you register (for free) to access the full article.
From river blindness and buruli ulcer to elephantiasis, the country had plenty of health problems that affected its poorest residents. It harboured one of the largest number of cases of guinea worm outside Sudan, a disease energetically targeted for global eradication by former US president Jimmy Carter through his foundation.
Sept. 30, 2012
Extinction by Design: Guinea Worm
Published by Scientific American.
Though I could find little about the biology of rinderpest for the last post, guinea worm is a case of the opposite: Way Too Much Information. Guinea worm inspires horror not so much by its life history (many infectious organisms find ways to wander about your body at will), but by its size, Homo sapiens-escape method, and terrifying treatment.
Aug. 27, 2012
Guinea Worm is Poised to Become the Second Human Disease to be Eradicated
Published by The Washington Post.
Guinea worm disease is reaching the end of its days. The parasitic infection, which has sickened millions, mostly in Asia and Africa, is on the verge of being done in not by sophisticated medicine but by aggressive public health efforts in some of the poorest and most remote parts of the world.
July 24, 2012
Ein übler Geselle kurz vor dem Aus
Published in the German publication Spektrum.de.
Die Uhr für den Guineawurm tickt: Bald soll der üble Parasit ausgerottet sein - als zweite Krankheit nach den Pocken. Doch die letzten Meter werden schwierig.
July 22, 2012
The President and the Parasite
Published by ABC News.
Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki talks about the impending demise of Guinea Worm Disease, which looks set to follow smallpox and be eradicated completely, thanks in large part to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
July 19, 2012
Guinea Worm Could Be Second Disease Wiped Off the Earth
Published by the Toronto Star.
An ancient parasite known as the "fiery serpent" is on track to be the second human disease eradicated since smallpox's demise in 1979.
July 1, 2012
The World's Last Worm: A Dreaded Disease Nears Eradication
Published by Scientific American.
A parasite that has plagued the human race since antiquity is poised to become the second human disease after smallpox to be eradicated. "We are approaching the demise of the last guinea worm who will ever live on earth," says former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, whose Carter Center has spearheaded the eradication effort.
May 11, 2012
Dracunculiasis Eradication – Global Surveillance Summary, 2011 (PDF)
Published by Weekly Epidemiological Record, No. 19, 2012, 87, 177-188.
Authors: World Health Organization.
This report summarizes the progress made in the Guinea worm eradication goal until the end of 2012.
May 9, 2012
War on a Worm: Education a Key to Eradication
Published by Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
In a couple of years, guinea worm will likely join smallpox as a disease with zero sufferers, The Carter Center in Atlanta reports. Former President Carter is a leading figure in the push against the parasite, and says he hopes to outlive it.
April 26, 2012
Getting Guinea Worm Gone: Report from the AHCJ Conference (Audio Podcast)
Published by ScientificAmerican.com.
Scientific American editor Christine Gorman talks about the recent conference of the Association of Health Care Journalists, including Jimmy Carter's efforts against guinea worm and trachoma, and Rosalynn Carter's mental health initiatives.
April 23, 2012
Jimmy Carter's Successful War Against Tropical Diseases
Published by The Globe and Mail (Reuters)
One of the most exclusive clubs on Earth is that of living ex-U.S. presidents. The gang of four – Jimmy Carter, George Bush Sr., Bill Clinton and George W. Bush – spend their retirement years hitting the links, building presidential libraries, giving $100,000 speeches, writing autobiographies and doing humanitarian work.
April 19, 2012
Local Impact: Moving Mountains to Prevent Disease (PDF)
Published in Emory Public Health by the Rollins School of Public Health, a component of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center of Emory University (emoryhealthsciences.org).
Every day, Rollins students and alumni are building public health capacity throughout the nonprofit sector in Atlanta and across the state. Moses Katabarwa and Adam Weiss are health leaders at the Carter Center, one of Rollins' public health partners in the Atlanta community.
March 20, 2012
South Sudan Inches Closer to Eradicating Guinea Worm
Published by Voice of America.
South Sudan, the world's newest country, is on the brink of its first health-care success. Cases of guinea worm have dropped dramatically in the past five years and there is hope that in 2012 transmission will be stopped completely.
Feb. 29, 2012
El gusano de Guinea, una enfermedad tropical cerca de ser erradicada
Published by CNN in Espanol.
Organizaciones no lucrativas públicas y privadas indican que quedan menos de 600 casos de esta condición y planean acabar con ella para 2015.
Feb. 4, 2012
Neglected Tropical Diseases: The World's Nastiest Illnesses Get Some Belated Attention
Published by The Economist.
GLOBAL health campaigns like grand goals. On January 30th Bill Gates joined the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO), 13 drug-company executives and others in pledging to eradicate or control by 2020 ten of the world's nastiest diseases, which afflict more than a billion people. Guinea worm, sleeping sickness, bilharzia (which doctors call schistosomiasis) and the others rot tissue and cripple the organs. Even if they do not kill, they stunt children and sap adults' energies.
Feb. 1, 2012
How Jimmy Carter Became a Serpent Slayer and Global Health Pioneer
Published by KPLU.
Former President Jimmy Carter is in Seattle, having spoken last night at the World Affairs Council's 60th anniversary celebration and speaking today at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation about Guinea worm.
Jan. 30, 2012
Gates Initiative on "Neglected Diseases" Advances Cause, But Neglects Key Questions
Published by KPLU.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced, together with more than a dozen drug makers and others, a new initiative aimed at fighting a select group of mostly developing world ailments called "neglected tropical diseases" such as river blindness, parasitic elephantiasis and others.
Jan. 30, 2012
Drug Companies Join Forces to Combat Deadliest Tropical Diseases
Published by The Guardian.
The heads of 13 of the world's biggest drug companies, brought together by Bill Gates, have agreed to donate more medicines and, in a rare spirit of co-operation, to work together to find new ones in an attempt to end many neglected tropical diseases that kill and maim some of the poorest people on the planet.
Jan. 30, 2012
Carter Center Gets $40M to Eradicate Guinea Worm
Published by Associated Press article, also appeared on Huffington Post, Boston Globe, MiamiHerald.com, and over 200 news outlets.
The Carter Center on Monday announced it received $40 million in donations to help fuel its mission to eradicate Guinea worm disease, a debilitating parasite that once plagued millions of people across the developing world.
Jan. 30, 2012
Gates Pledges Money to Guinea Worm Fight
Published by CNN.com.
Less than a week after the the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced it would give $750 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the foundation has pledged $23.3 million to a lesser-known disease: Guinea worm.
Jan. 20, 2012
Web Extra: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Tell Piers Morgan About Their Goal of Eradicating Guinea Worm
Published by CNN.
Only one infectious disease has ever been eradicated: smallpox. But thanks largely to the efforts of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, the former president told Piers Morgan that guinea worm will soon be the second. "We found 3-and-a-half million cases of guinea worm still existing, and now we have less than a thousand cases, so we'll soon eliminate guinea worm from the face of the earth," said Carter.
Jan. 17, 2012
Guinea Worm: S. Sudan World's Most Affected, Says Carter Center
Published by the Sudan Tribune.
South Sudan remains the most Guinea Worm affected country in the world, with 521 cases out of the 542 reported worldwide last year, the Carter Center said on Thursday. The provisional Guinea worm totals for 2012, released by the US-based center, founded by former US President, Jimmy Carter, also indicates a 99% reduction of 10, 7 and 4 other cases in Chad, Mali and Ethiopia respectively.
Oct. 12, 2011
Eradicating Guinea Worm
Published by Here & Now.
Only one human disease has ever been completely eradicated - smallpox - but we are now close to eliminating a second: dracunculiasis or Guinea worm disease.
Oct. 6, 2011
UK Gives £20m to Carter's War on Guinea Worm
Published by The Independent.
The fight to eradicate the gruesome and debilitating "Guinea worm" disease, making it only the second in the world to be wiped out after smallpox, is on the verge of success after it secured £20m funding from the government.
Oct. 6, 2011
Battle Against Crippling Parasitic Disease Nearly Won, Says Carter (PDF)
Published by The Guardian.
The world is tantalisingly close to eradicating guinea worm disease, which would make it only the second disease of humans to be wiped from the planet, according to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
Oct. 5, 2011
Efforts to End Worm Disease Get British Boost
Published by CNN.com – The Chart Blog.
Britain will back a final push to wipe out a debilitating parasitic worm disease that is on the verge of worldwide eradication.
Oct. 5, 2011
Jimmy Carter Spearheads Final Drive to Eradicate Guinea Worm Disease
Published by The Guardian.
The world is tantalisingly close to eradicating Guinea worm disease, which would make it only the second disease of humans to be wiped from the planet, according to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
Oct. 5, 2011
Fresh Push to Rid the World of Guinea Worm by 2015
Published by the BBC.
The U.K. government is backing a new campaign to try to rid the world of Guinea worm by 2015.
Oct. 5, 2011
Britain joins Jimmy Carter to Wipe Out Worm Disease
Published by Agence France Presse.
Britain pledged Wednesday to contribute £20 million to the funding of a campaign spearheaded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter that aims to eradicate a debilitating parasitic disease by 2015.
Oct. 5, 2011
Carter Centre Calls for Wider Immunisation Programme
Published by the Financial Times.
The long-running and expensive campaign to eradicate polio – which costs about $1bn a year – is likely to fail unless it is combined with vaccines that combat other deadly diseases such as measles, a leading public health specialist has warned.
Oct. 5, 2011
UK Push to Wipe Out Guinea Worm Disease
Published by the Department for International Development.
Britain today announced it will provide major support to a new project that will make Guinea worm the second human disease to be eradicated in human history.
Oct. 5, 2011
Goodbye, Guinea Worm
Published by the Department for International Development.
U.K. aid is supporting an ongoing campaign by U.S. nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center, to wipe out Guinea worm disease. The disease has been reduced by 99% in the last 25 years and could be eradicated by the end of this decade.
Oct. 5, 2011
Jimmy Carter Seeks Donors To Help Wipe Out Guinea Worm
Published by the Associate Press
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is appealing for other donors to join Britain in a multi-million dollar campaign to wipe out guinea worm, a crippling and painful parasitic disease that now exists only in four African countries.
Aug. 3, 2011
Ghana Joins 14 Other African Nations in Eradicating Guinea Worm
Published by Voice of America.
Ghana has joined 14 other African countries in eradicating Guinea worm disease. The announcement from the Carter Center in Atlanta says the disease cycle has been broken after a 23-year nationwide battle.
Aug. 1, 2011
Evening Focus: Interview with The Carter Center, Part 3 – Responding to Guinea Worm Outbreaks
Published by Blogistan Polytechnic Institute.
The key to eradicating Guinea worm disease is "surveillance, surveillance, surveillance."
July 29, 2011
Ghana Eradicates Guinea Worm After 23-Year Fight
Published by the Associated Press.
Jimmy Carter watched in horror as the inches- (centimeters-) long worm emerged from the breast of a woman in remote northern Ghana. That was in the 1980s. The former U.S. president dedicated himself to eradicating the sickness and estimated it would take 10 years. On Thursday, after 23 years of hard work and a major setback, Ghana finally declared victory.
July 25, 2011
Evening Focus: In Africa with The Carter Center, Part 2 – Safe Water
Published by Blogistan Polytechnic Institute.
Americans often take clean water for granted. But in Africa, as The Carter Center's Craig Withers explains, clean water can be hard to find.
July 18, 2011
Evening Focus: In Africa with The Carter Center, Part 1
Published by Blogistan Polytechnic Institute.
I had the pleasure to interview Craig Withers of The Carter Center about their work to eradicate Guinea Worm Disease in Africa.
Aug. 3, 2011
Ghana Joins 14 Other African Nations in Eradicating Guinea Worm
Published by Voice of America.
Ghana has joined 14 other African countries in eradicating Guinea worm disease. The announcement from the Carter Center in Atlanta says the disease cycle has been broken after a 23-year nationwide battle.
July 18, 2011
Epidemiology: In Losing Its Southern States to Secession, Sudan Also Sheds Its Guinea Worm Cases
Published by The New York Times.
As of July 15, one more country was declared free of the guinea worm: Sudan. But it was a hollow victory. That was the date Sudan split in two and South Sudan became the world's newest country - and all the known Sudanese cases are in the south.
June 10, 2011
Farewell to Guinea Worm
Published by National Geographic Magazine.
It's not every day that a disease disappears, but Guinea worm disease may be next, after smallpox. Thanks to international efforts led by The Carter Center, just 1,797 cases were reported worldwide last year, most in what is now South Sudan.
May 13, 2011
Dracunculiasis Eradication – Global Surveillance Summary, 2010 (PDF)
Published in Weekly Epidemiological Record, No. 20, 2011, 86, 189–204.
This report summarizes the progress made in the Guinea worm eradication goal until the end of 2010.
April 26, 2011
Infectious Diseases Burden in South Sudan
Published by The Lancet, Infectious Diseases, Vol. 11. Subscription required to read
the full article.
There is, however, one cause for genuine hope. Independence for South Sudan could spell the end for Guinea worm disease. It has been targeted by WHO for eradication, and thanks to the work of the Carter Centre, such an outcome looks eminently achievable. Last year, there were 1785 cases, 1690 of which were in South Sudan (the handful of other cases occurred in Ethiopia, Mali, and Ghana).
April 17, 2011
Carter Center in Final Push to Eradicate Guinea Worm Disease
Published by Voice of America.
As Southern Sudan prepares to emerge on the world stage as the newest nation on the planet, health workers combating Guinea Worm disease are hoping the country's independence will energize the campaign against the parasite.
March 27, 2011
How Guinea Worm Was Eradicated in Nigeria (Full text no longer available.)
Published by The Nation (Nigeria).
Resident Technical Adviser for the Carter Centre's Health Programmes in Nigeria, Dr Emmanuel Miri, in this interview with Yusufu Aminu Idegu, speaks on the eradication of Guinea worm in the country and how to prevent re-occurrence.
March 21, 2011
Nigeria Wins War Against Guinea Worm (PDF)
Published by TELL Magazine.
Millions of Nigerians may be spared future suffering as Carter Center announces it has stopped transmission of Guinea worm disease in the country.
March 17, 2011
How to Solve Really Big Problems
Published by the Huffington Post.
I recently attended a press conference at The Carter Center in Atlanta where Jimmy Carter announced that after 25 years of work, they have practically eradicated Guinea Worm disease from the face of the Earth.
March 5, 2011
Jimmy Carter, Worm Slayer (Video)
Published by The Huffington Post.
Whenever Jimmy Carter makes a statement, opinions fly.
Yet it wasn't the former U.S. President's political views that had a crowd of students and parents gasping during his speech at an Atlanta private school February 17. It was his talk of a horrific creature known as Guinea Worm that elicited dropped jaws from the audience.
Feb. 28, 2011
Parasitic Disease: Guinea Worm Takes a Step Closer to Eradication, Jimmy Carter Says
Published by The New York Times.
The guinea worm is a spaghetti-thin parasite that has proved notoriously hard to eradicate around the world. Now former President Jimmy Carter, who has led a 25-year campaign against guinea worm disease, is reporting progress in the effort to make it only the second human disease to be eradicated, after smallpox.
Feb. 23, 2011
Guinea Worm: Parasitic Infection Nears Extinction
Published by PBS Newshour.
Officials at the Atlanta-based Carter Center said this week that the effort to eradicate the Guinea Worm parasite – a scourge that dates back to Biblical times – is now 99 percent complete.
Feb. 22, 2011
Guinea Worm: Second Disease In History To Disappear?
Published by The Huffington Post.
For all of the mind-boggling achievements of modern medicine, only one – one! – disease has ever been completely eradicated: smallpox. But now guinea worm -- the preventable disease that forces people to live with worms up to three-feet long inside them – is teetering on the brink of joining that very, very short list of diseases.
Feb. 18, 2011
Nigeria Halts Transmission of Guinea Worm
Published by Reuters Africa.
Nigeria has halted transmission of Guinea worm disease, bringing closer the moment when a disease is eradicated from the planet for just the second time in history, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said on Thursday.
Feb. 7, 2011
The Objective Here Is Zero Cases Worldwide
Published by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Guinea worm disease, a parasitic illness contracted by the poorest Africans who drink contaminated water, has been called the "forgotten disease of forgotten people."
Feb. 3, 2011
Killing the 'Fiery Serpent'
Published by the Harvard Gazette.
Health officials are poised to eradicate guinea worm disease, a plague that once afflicted millions and which would be just the second human disease wiped from the face of the earth, Donald Hopkins, vice president of health programs for The Carter Center, said Tuesday (Feb. 1).
Jan. 19, 2011
A Vote Against the Guinea Worm
Published in New Scientist.
GOOD news from Africa. We may be in a position to eradicate the Guinea worm (previous story "Southern Sudan's votes could kill an ancient disease"). If we succeed, this will only be the second human disease to be wiped out, after smallpox in 1980.
Jan. 19, 2011
Southern Sudan's Votes Could Kill an Ancient Disease
Published by New Scientist.
Since 1986 The Carter Center, a charity headed by former US president Jimmy Carter, has helped these people filter water and keep emerging worms out of ponds. Now only four countries still have the worm – and of these, Ghana, Ethiopia and Mali are practically rid of it. Of the 1785 cases found last year, 1690 were in Southern Sudan.
Jan. 15, 2011
Looking to the Future in Sudan: Dr. Donald R. Hopkins' Letter to the Editor, The New York Times
Published by The New York Times
This letter sent Jan. 11, 2011, by Carter Center Health Programs Vice President, Dr. Hopkins is in response to an editorial published Jan. 8, 2011, by The New York Times. "Southern Sudan Votes" (editorial, Jan. 8) rightly notes that the government of southern Sudan has "set up more than two dozen ministries and built schools and roads" since the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement in 2005.
Jan. 14, 2011
Grace: Nigeria's Last Case of Guinea Worm
Published by KPLU.
After my first visit to Nigeria in 2001, when I saw more than my fair share of guinea worm infections, I returned to Nigeria for a book project I claimed to be working on. It was 2009 and I was a freelancer.
Dec. 25, 2010
Jimmy Carter vs. Guinea Worm: Sudan is Last Battle
Published by the Associated Press.
Lily pads and purple flowers dot one corner of the watering hole. Bright green algae covers another. Two women collect water in plastic jugs while a cattle herder bathes nearby.
Dec. 13, 2010
The President and the Worm – Jimmy Carter's Fight to Eradicate the Guinea Worm
Published by Der Spiegel.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jimmy Carter is leading a unique battle to eradicate the Guinea worm. His efforts have brought the painful infection, transmitted via contaminated water, to the brink of elimination. The decisive battle is being fought in Sudan.
Nov. 8, 2010
Breaking a Vicious Cycle
Published by Emory Magazine.
Jimmy Carter is planning a send-off for the last Guinea worm on earth. Founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, The Carter Center, in partnership with Emory, has worked to advance human rights and alleviate human suffering in more than seventy countries. One of the center's core activities, the Guinea Worm Eradication Program, is nearing the finish line, with only four countries still reporting cases. President Carter spoke with Emory Magazine about the program's impressive achievements and the lessons learned along the way.
Nov. 8, 2010
Lost and Found
Published by Emory Magazine.
In 1987, as a second civil war engulfed southern Sudan, David Thon 08MPH fled his rural village in search of a safe haven, eventually emigrating to the United States in 2001. Last year, on behalf of The Carter Center, he returned home to help eradicate an ancient scourge, 'waging peace' one patient at a time.
Oct. 27, 2010
A President's Promise (PDF)
Published by Emory Health magazine.
President Carter made a vow to wipe an ancient and terrible disease from the face of the earth, and two decades later, he's on the verge of making it happen.
Oct. 8, 2010
How Fight Against Guinea Worm Was Won
Published by CNN.
Author: Catriona Davies
It's a disease that has plagued Africans for decades, now medical researchers believe they are on their way to eradicating it.
Sept. 22, 2010
Carter Center Puts End to Dreaded Disease
Published by Voice of America.
Carter Center says Nigeria is latest country to eradicate water-born parasite Guinea worm."Sudan is the last stand for Guinea worm disease," says former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. In the country's southern region, almost 1400 people have the disease, says the Atlanta-based Carter Center.
Sept. 18, 2010
Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease - A Prelude to NTD Elimination
Published by The Lancet. Volume 376, Issue 9745, Pages 947 - 948, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61437-7.
The drive to eradicate Guinea worm or dracunculiasis from the planet is one of today's great but unrecognised public health successes. Narrated by Sigourney Weaver and focusing on the two-decade long programme to eradicate Guinea worm driven by the Carter Center and WHO, Foul Water Fiery Serpent tracks the progress of these efforts.
July 7, 2010
Out of the Darkness: Wiring a Desert Village
Published by Wired magazine.
Freelance photographer Peter DiCampo, who has worked for The Carter Center numerous times, is the featured interview for this piece from WIRED magazine's blog "Raw File." Using his photographs as a starting point, DiCampo recounts how Wantugu, Ghana has changed since electricity arrived in the village.
July 9, 2010
Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter: Fighting Guinea Worm to the Death (PDF)
Published by Lives – New Answers for Global Health (a new publication from Scientific American). Posted with permission.
It was more than two decades ago that former President Jimmy Carter saw his first case of Guinea Worm, the flesh-burrowing parasite that for centuries has caused agony in poor, remote parts of the world. But Mr. Carter recalls that moment - an image forever seared in his mind - as if it were yesterday.
May 21, 2010
Video: Anyak vs. the Guinea Worm
Published by The New York Times.
Kristof follows a young Sudanese boy with a parasite infection who is quarantined for treatment.
May 7, 2010
Dracunculiasis Eradication – Global Surveillance Summary, 2009 (PDF)
Published in Weekly Epidemiological Record, No. 19, 2010, 85, 165–176.
This report summarizes the progress made in the Guinea worm eradication goal until the end of 2009.
April 28, 2010
Winning the Worm War
Published by The New York Times.
Former President Jimmy Carter's plan to eradicate Guinea worm worldwide is succeeding because local villagers are involved in the effort.
April 16, 2010
Eradicating a Global Scourge
Published by PBS's Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.
PBS's Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly examines religion's role and the ethical dimensions of top news headlines. Fred de Sam Lazaro traveled to Southern Sudan with the Carter Center delegation to cover President Carter's Guinea worm eradication efforts.
April 13, 2010
President Carter in Sudan: Guinea Worm's Last Frontier (PDF)
Published by Oasis Magazine.
As President Carter visits Sudan, the last frontier of Guinea Worm disease, Oasis interviews him and finds out more about how the Carter Center was able to eradicate a disease.
April 8, 2010
PBS's "NewsHour," CNN.com, and Public Radio International's "The World" Report on Southern Sudan, Last Bastion for Historic Campaign to Eradicate Guinea Worm Disease
In early February 2010, a global health unit from PBS's "NewsHour," Public Radio International's "The World," and CNN.com visited Southern Sudan with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Center health staff to explore progress toward Guinea worm disease eradication in this last bastion for the parasitic infection.
April 7, 2010
PBS's "NewsHour" Airs Special Feature on Campaign to End Guinea Worm Disease
In early February 2010, a global health unit from PBS's "NewsHour," visited Southern Sudan with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Center health staff to explore progress toward Guinea worm disease eradication in this last bastion for the parasitic infection.
April 6, 2010
CNN.com Features Major Coverage of Guinea Worm Eradication Efforts in Southern Sudan
Published by CNN
Join CNN.com, the world's leading news Web site, for its major coverage of Southern Sudan's final struggle to wipe out Guinea worm disease.
March 29, 2010
Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease
Published by PRI's The World
This program aired March 29, 2010, on PRI's The World (from the BBC, PRI, and WGBH). Accompanying Web feature includes photos, article, and full-length audio interview with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Run time: 28:14. A global campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease is tantalizingly close to success. The parasitic infection, caused by a worm that can grow three feet long before it emerges from a patient's body, now affects just a few thousand people per year. Almost all of the remaining cases are in Southern Sudan. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who has helped lead the campaign, went there in February. The World's David Baron was there too.
March 24, 2010
Mayo Clinic Alumni Association 66th Meeting, Profile of Speaker: Dr. John Hardman (PDF)
Published by Mayo Alumni magazine.
Carter Center President and CEO Dr. John Hardman (a Mayo Clinic alumnus) presented the prestigious Raymond D. Pruitt Lecture during the 2009 Mayo Clinic Alumni Association's biennial meeting. The lecture series honors individuals who have expertise in medical specialties or areas of research. Dr. Hardman's presentation on "Not Neglecting Neglected Diseases for 24 Years and Counting..." covered the Center's work to prevent diseases in the world's poorest countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
March 19, 2010
Sudanese Guinea Worm On the Point of Eradication. What next?
Published by www.telegraph.co.uk.
Author: Jacqui Thornton
It's a particularly nasty individual, the Guinea worm. It grows as long as a metre inside its human host who has unwittingly drunk its larvae in contaminated water. It mates with another; then, after a year or so, it erupts through the person's skin, spewing thousands of its own larvae as it goes. And so the cycle continues.
March 17, 2010
Mali: Hoping to Eradicate Guinea Worm in Two Years
Published by IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks).
Mali is hoping to eradicate guinea-worm in the next two years, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
March 16, 2010
Parasite Lost: Exterminating Africa's Horror Worms
Published by New Scientist magazine. Subscription required to read the full article.
It starts with a painful blister - a very painful blister. It feels, people say, like being stabbed with a red-hot needle. When the blister bursts, the head of a worm pops out, thin, white and very much alive. The rest of the worm, about a metre long, remains inside your body. It can take up to two months to pull it out, inch by agonising inch, during which time it may be impossible to walk. In extreme cases, you may host up to sixty of them, anywhere on your body. The worms can cause paralysis or lethal bacterial infections, and even if you survive mostly unscathed, next year it can happen all over again. The guinea worm (Dracunculus, or little dragon) is probably the closest living equivalent to the monsters in the Alien movies - except we're beating this enemy.
Feb. 19, 2010
Carter: Eradication of Guinea worm disease near in Sudan
Published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Former President Jimmy Carter said Friday that Sudan has made significant progress in its fight against Guinea worm disease.
Feb. 19, 2010
Carter: Parasitic Guinea Worm Cases Hit Record Low
Distributed by the Associated Press.
Global cases of Guinea worm disease have dropped to a new all-time low, former President Jimmy Carter said Friday, and health officials hope the infection that culminates in worms emerging from a victim's skin can be eliminated within two years.
Feb. 18, 2010
Audio: Jimmy Carter Discusses Guinea Worm Eradication During His Five Day Visit to Sudan
Published by Miraya 101 FM.
Miraya 101 FM is a United Nations Mission in the Sudan-run radio station in Southern Sudan. They work to provide independent and impartial news to national, regional, and international audiences in an effort to support democratic governance. Note: This is an .mp3 audio file.
Feb. 17, 2010
"Sudan in Pictures" Features Visit of Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter
The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) regularly produces a series of pictorials called "Sudan in Pictures" to keep its staff and the public informed about activities in Sudan. The February 2010 edition of "Sudan in Pictures" features the visit of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to the region.
Feb. 17, 2010
Stamping Out the Guinea Worm 'Dragons' of Sudan
Published by AFP (Agence France-Presse).
Scars on Severion Wayet's arms reveal where the flesh-burrowing Guinea worms burst through her skin. It was an agonising process that lasted days as the worms, measuring around one metre (three feet) in length, fought their way out of her body.
Feb. 17, 2010
Sudan: Final Push to Eradicate Guinea Worm
Published by IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Networks).
Guinea worm, the agonizing water-borne parasite, could be eradicated within "two to three years" from Southern Sudan, health officials say.
Jan. 26, 2010
And Then There Were Four: More Countries Beat Guinea Worm Disease
Published by BJM Publishing Group Ltd., Reproduced from [British Medical Journal 2010;340:c496] with permission from BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.
The number of countries remaining affected by guinea worm disease, or dracunculiasis, fell by two last year, leaving just four countries in Africa that continue to harbour the waterborne parasitic disease.
Dec. 31, 2009
Uganda Stamps Out Guinea Worm Disease
Published by Daily Monitor/Monitor Publications Ltd.
Since 1991, Uganda has been campaigning to eradicate the Guinea worm. 18 years later, the ancient parasitic disease has been completely eliminated from the country, according to the World Health Organisation, making it the second major disease after smallpox to be wiped out.
Dec. 22, 2009
Carter Center Nears Goal Against Guinea Worm
Published by Voice of America.
In the last 12 months, no case of Guinea worm disease has been found in Nigeria. It's a major step in former President Jimmy Carter's effort to eradicate the parasitic disease worldwide. The Carter Center has been leading the battle against Guinea worm - in partnership with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization. Watch video >>
Dec. 9, 2009
Carter Center Landmark in Disease Eradication (link no longer available)
Published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Carter Center declared another major step in ridding the world of guinea worm disease. Nigeria, once the worst-afflicted country in the world with 653,000 cases, has not reported a case in 12 months, said Dr. Donald R. Hopkins, chairman of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication, which is based at the Carter Center. Only four countries – Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali and Sudan – still report guinea worm disease. About 3,000 were found as of last month, down from three million when former President Jimmy Carter began his efforts.
Dec. 7, 2009
Campaign to Eradicate Guinea Worm in Hard-Hit Nigeria May Have Worked
Published by The New York Times.
After 20 years, the Carter Center is ready to declare a major victory in its war on guinea worm: Nigeria, once the worst-afflicted country in the world, appears to be free of the worms.
Nov. 17, 2009
A Killer Blow to Guinea Worm (PDF)
Published by The News magazine.
At last, Nigeria is on its way to being free from the deadly and economically debilitating Guinea worm infection. This was the good news that came out of the recent three-day stock-taking stakeholders meeting in Abuja organized by the Carter Center. The Center and its partners have been involved in efforts to eradicate Guinea worm disease across the globe.
Oct. 5, 2009
Video: Sudan Wages War on Guinea Worms
Published by World Focus. Distributed to PBS stations nationwide. (Run time: 3:11)
Video report on Sudan's Guinea worm elimination campaign, in association with the Global Health Frontline News Project.
Sept. 22, 2009
Chasing the Worm
Published by the British Medical Journal, 2009;339:b3892.
New cases of guinea worm disease in southern Sudan have recently fallen from 20,000 a year to an estimated 1500, and doctors are hoping that the disease will become the second in history to be eliminated.
Sept. 2, 2009
Countdown to Wipe Out Guinea Worm in Ghana (PDF)
Published by World Health Organization Bulletin. Volume 87, Number 9, September 2009, 645-732.
Ghana could be one of the next African countries to say goodbye to Guinea worm. Amamata Sumani is on the front line in the war against Guinea worm disease (dracunculiasis) in Ghana - a front line that shrinks every year as the parasitic nematode retreats into its last remaining strongholds in the north of the country. Dracunculiasis transmission can be interrupted at two places in the parasites' life-cycle - by preventing people with open sores from contaminating water sources, and by filtering drinking water.
July 12, 2009
Ghana Fights Guinea Worm
Editorial published by Voice of America.
Guinea worm disease, a painful and crippling parasite affliction, has been almost entirely eradicated in Ghana, thanks to the tireless efforts of village-based volunteers and ministry of health staff, with assistance from The Carter Center, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and other partner organizations.
July 4, 2009
Guinea Worm Nears Demise (Text no longer available)
Published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Philip Downs of Atlanta will know he is successful when he no longer has a job. Downs, 34, is the assistant director of the Guinea Worm Eradication Program at the Carter Center. After 23 years, the partners in the fight believe they are 18 months from success.
June 25, 2009
Ghana: Guinea Worm Eradication Program Gets Results in Country
Published by America.gov, also ran in AllAfrica.com
Guinea worm disease, which has crippled millions in Africa and Asia, is nearly vanquished in Ghana, thanks to the efforts of the Carter Center, which has been working with health workers in that country over the last 20 years.
April 4, 2009
"Africa Sees Obstacles to Guinea Worm Disease Eradication"
Published by The Lancet and reprinted with permission.
Experts are stepping up their efforts to eradicate guinea worm disease from the world. But the final push will not be easy in the six African countries with remaining cases, Wairagala Wakabi reports.
March 1, 2009
The End is Nigh for Guinea Worm Disease
Published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Reprinted with permission.
Eradication of Guinea worm disease, caused by the nematode parasite Dracunculus medinensis, is now close at hand. Cases fell to from 3.5 million cases in 1986 to a provisional 4643 cases in 2008, a reduction of 99.5 percent. "Only 1972 of last year's cases were uncontained," reported Ernesto Ruiz-Tiben, Director of the Guinea Worm Eradication Program at the Carter Center (Atlanta, GA, USA).
Feb. 18, 2009
CNN's "Impact Your World" on "Eradicating a Parasite"
Published by CNN
This news segment features former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Dr. Donald Hopkins, vice president of the Carter Center's health programs, discussing the international campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease.
Jan. 20, 2009
Grants Push Guinea Worm to All-Time Low
Published by the Emory Report.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced last month that cases of Guinea worm disease have reached an all-time low with fewer than 5,000 estimated cases remaining worldwide. To help eliminate the remaining cases, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) announced new commitments totaling $55 million to support the historic Carter Center-led eradication campaign.
Dec. 10, 2008
Video: Good Riddance, Guinea Worm
Published by GOOD News, a video news program produced by GOOD magazine's.
Host Roger Numbers, an animated character, conducts interviews on a wide range of issues including science, history, and economics. In this video, Roger interviews Carter Center expert Kelly Callahan on the Dec. 2008 Guinea worm announcement of fewer than 5,000 cases remaining worldwide.
Sept. 1, 2008
Killing the Worm
Published by GOOD magazine. Issue 012, pages 106-115.
Disease eradication hasn't had a success since smallpox in 1979. Now, Guinea worm disease - in which a three-foot long worm burrows through its victim's body - is holding out in just a few African countries. The quest to wipe it out is slow and controversial, but the finish line is in sight.
Aug. 23, 2008
The Worm That Turned Back
Published by the Financial Times.
When Makoy Samuel Yibi Logora was growing up in a village in southern Sudan, no one there knew what caused Guinea worm. But they certainly understood its effects. The skin swells and becomes infected as a thin white parasitic worm takes several weeks to emerge slowly, agonisingly, through a huge blister.
May 10, 2008
Donald R Hopkins: Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease
Published by The Lancet. Registration is required to read the full article.
Disease eradication has proven to be a rare and maddeningly elusive goal for global-health experts over the years. Despite Herculean attempts to abolish malaria, yellow fever, polio, and other scourges, only the smallpox campaign has been completely successful. But now efforts to eliminate Guinea worm disease (dracunculiasis) look likely to succeed. One man has been on the front lines of both successful efforts: Carter Center Vice President for Health Programs Donald R Hopkins.
March 31, 2008
A Village Woman's Legacy (PDF)
Published by TIME magazine.
An encounter with the victim of an old scourge gave a former President a new worldview - and a mission.
Jan. 25, 2008
Fighting the Scourge of the Guinea Worm
Published by TIME Magazine.
Photo slideshow: A Ghanaian village bands together to eradicate a debilitating parasite. Photographs by Peter DiCampo.
Nov. 12, 2007
Al Jazeera's The Pulse Investigates the Planned Extinction of Guinea Worm From the Planet
Published by Al Jazeera's The Pulse, a weekly series that showcases topical stories from around the world, and from laboratories working on new cures, vaccines, and treatments.
Scientists are on the verge of eradicating one of the oldest parasites that has been infecting humans for thousands of years – Guinea worm. The Pulse investigates how this is possible.
Oct. 24, 2007
Persistence Pays Off in Guinea Worm Fight (PDF)
Published by the American Medical Association. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission of J.A.M.A.
Last February, when Ernesto Ruiz-Tiben, Ph.D., accompanied former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his staff to Savelugu, Ghana, they were greeted with a heart-wrenching sight. More than 300 people, mostly children, flocked to a makeshift dracunculiasis clinic, hoping to obtain relief for pain so intense that the ancient Egyptians had called it a fiery serpent.
June 21, 2007
The Tail End of Guinea Worm - Global Eradication without a Drug or a Vaccine
Published by the New England Journal of Medicine.
"The Tail End of Guinea Worm - Global Eradication without a Drug or a Vaccine," by Michele Barry, M.D., and includes four PowerPoint photo and data presentations.
May 13, 2007
Doctor Without Borders
Published by The Chicago Tribune
In a dusty, open-air treatment center in Savelugu, Ghana, where patients are crying in pain, Dr. Donald R. Hopkins once again meets his enemy: Guinea worm disease.
May 10, 2007
Three-Part Video Feature: Lifting the Guinea Worm Curse
Published by the Chicago Tribune.
This feature contains three separate videos, "Still Inflicting Pain," "The Worm Killer," and "Front Line of Care."
April 4, 2007
Case Studies in Global Health: Millions Saved
Published by the Center for Global Development.
Written by Ruth Levine Ph.D, Case Studies in Global Health: Millions Saved highlights 20 original public health large-scale success cases. The Guinea worm disease eradication campaign and river blindness control campaign are featured chapters in the book. Read the full chapter (PDF).
March 16, 2007
Tough Fight in Final Struggle to Eradicate 'Fiery Serpents' That Plagued Israelites
Published by the Associated Press.
Savelugu, Ghana - The little girl screams in pain and convulsively reaches for the hand inflicting the torture - the hand slowly drawing a thin, white worm from her blistered foot.
March 3, 2007
Stamping Out Guinea Worm (PDF)
Published by NPR.
Guinea worm disease, long gone from the developed world, continues to persist in poorer nations. Now, a relentless effort to eradicate it in Nigeria is close to success. Soon, with help from U.S. donors, the Nigerian government and local health workers, guinea worm may be a problem of the past.
Feb. 18, 2007
Torture By Worms
Published by The New York Times.
Presidents are supposed to be strong, and on his latest visit to Africa Jimmy Carter proved himself strong enough to weep. Click here for official reprint (PDF).
July 1, 2006
Slaying Little Dragons: Lessons From The Dracunculiasis Eradication Program (PDF)
Published by the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
The word dracunculiasis comes from the Latin phrase "afflicted with little dragons." The global Dracunculiasis Eradication Program (DEP) spearheaded by President Jimmy Carter and The Carter Center has quietly "inched" towards world eradication with stunning success.
March 26, 2006
Dose of Tenacity Wears Down A Horrific Disease (PDF)
Published by The New York Times.
"Dose of Tenacity Wears Down a Horrific Disease" by Donald G. McNeil Jr. is the second in The New York Times "On the Brink" series of articles about five diseases - polio, Guinea worm, measles, blinding trachoma and lymphatic filariasis - that are extinct in the developed world but stubbornly persistent in some poor nations. As the diseases hover on the brink of eradication, doctors and scientists face daunting obstacles as they struggle to finish the job. Related NYT video: Fighting Guinea Worm > | Related NYT slideshow: An Age-Old Problem >
Dec. 14, 2005
Five Inspiring Women Delivering Hope Around the World
Published by Health Magazine and reprinted with permission.
The stories of five women - including Kelly Callahan - who traveled to the epicenter of human suffering in an effort to lend their support.
Nov. 4, 2005
David Branccacio Interview With Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter (Transcript, PDF)
Published by PBS NOW. Posted with permission.
Nov. 1, 2005
The End of a Scourge?
Published by National Geographic.
Feature article from November 2005 issue of National Geographic.
April 6, 2005
Gates, Carter Target Disease
Published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Carter Center received a blockbuster grant Tuesday that could yield $45 million for its quest to eradicate Guinea worm disease, an ancient affliction of the developing world.
July 27, 2004
To The Source: Guinea Worm Eradication in Africa
Published by Emory Magazine, Summer 2004 edition, Photos by Annemarie Poyo.
They say it hurts most at night, when the village is dark and quiet and there is nothing to take the mind away from the slender, whitish worm emerging from an open sore on the skin. Lukas, a young yam farmer in the Nkwanta district of Ghana, West Africa, slaps a dirty cloth at the flies swarming around a raw area on his leg as he describes the pain, saying he cannot sleep and is unable to work.
March 1, 2004
Guinea Worm Eradication in Ghana
Published by Africa Today magazine.
All hands to the plough, the dream of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to bury the last Ghanaian Guinea worm in one of the fanciful Accra caskets may well be realised very soon.
Feb. 19, 2004
Africa Today Magazine Features Special Report on The Carter Center
Published by Africa Today magazine., Vol. 9, No. 11.
The Nov. 2003 issue of Africa Today features former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, The Carter Center, and the Guinea Worm Eradication Program.
April 1, 2003
Fighting the Scourge of Guinea Worm
Published by Humanitarian Affairs Review and reprinted with permission.
The Guinea worm parasite causes devastating disease, with far reaching consequences for development. But eradication, even in many remote regions, is within reach. Roger Phillips, Nigeria Program Consultant at The Carter Center, describes how basic hygiene and larvicide are putting end to suffering.
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