Is the elimination of Guinea Worm Disease on its way?

Posted on | maart 10, 2011 | No Comments

In April of 2010 health officials stated that Guinea worm disease was on target for elimination (CNN). Officials stated that they believed that they can eradicate Guinea worm disease, a water-born parasitic disease, entirely by 2015 by changing water-sanitation habits and ensuring access to clean water in sub-Saharan Africa, where the disease has yet to be eradicated.

In the summer of 2010 the United Nations voted to recognize access to clean water as a human right. Some 1 billion people live without access to safe water and some 2.6 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation. That is some 1 billion people across the globe who currently rely on bacteria-infested water to survive, water that causes everything from diarrhea to dysentery, and of course Guinea worm disease.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has given priority to the eradication of polio, however many critics believe Guinea worm disease is the more deserving candidate, due to the low cost in eliminating it. Smallpox is the only human disease thus far which has been eradicated. However this week former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who has been leading a 25-year campaign against the disease, stated that guinea worm and the disease will soon be eradicated worldwide (NY Times).

There are only three countries in the world which continue to have cases of the disease; Sudan, Mali and Ethiopia. Guinea worm disease is typically not fatal, however it leaves the victim in debilitating pain. Guinea worm is a parasitic worm which matures in the abdomen and then burrows out of the body via painful blisters on the skin. The worms are ingested from drinking contaminated water. Campaigners have used water filters (such as the LifeStraw shown in the photo above) and larvicide to drive down the number of reported cases to only 1,800 in 2010.

AUTHOR: Cassandra Clifford
URL: www.bridgetofreedomfoundation.org and http://children.foreignpolicyblogs.com
E-MAIL: Cassandra [at] btff.org