When The Carter Center began its Guinea Worm Eradication Program in 1986, more than 3.5 million cases of Guinea worm disease were estimated to occur annually in 21 countries in Africa and Asia. In January, The Carter Center announced that only 148 Guinea worm cases had been reported worldwide in 2013 thanks to a huge concerted effort from partner organizations, industry and the affected countries themselves.
A Debilitating Disease
Guinea worm disease is a debilitating condition that often temporarily disables its victims. Individuals afflicted with the disease become unable to perform simple, yet essential functions such as tending to farms and caring for children, literally halting everyday productivity throughout the affected villages. There is no known curative medicine or vaccine to prevent Guinea worm disease. It incapacitates victims for extended periods of time making them unable to work or grow enough food to feed their families or attend school.
Vector Control Industry is a Key Partner
In support of the Guinea Worm Eradication Program, BASF has supplied Abate®, the chemical water treatment that kills the Guinea worm larvae, free of charge since 1990. More than 200,000 liters of Abate® larvicide have been supplied to the program, valued at more than $4.1 million. Alongside community education programs and water filters, Abate® has been a key intervention against transmission in endemic countries in Africa and Asia.
The partnership with Vestergaard has also been instrumental in working to stop transmission of the Guinea worm disease. Since 1997, Vestergaard has donated more than 23 million filters to The Carter Center, valued at more than $1 million. The household and portable pipe filters are effective in filtering out copepods carrying Guinea worm larvae from contaminated water.
Second Disease Eradicated Ever
As a result of these combined efforts, and more, The Carter Center predicts that Guinea worm disease will soon become the second disease in human history, after smallpox, to be completely eradicated and the first to be eradicated without the use of a vaccine or medical treatment.