The Carter Center’s Fight to Eradicate Guinea Worm Disease

How is The Carter Center involved?

In 1986, The Carter Center began to provide technical and financial assistance to national Guinea worm eradication programs, beginning with Pakistan, and today it spearheads the international Guinea worm disease eradication campaign with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and many other partners.

The Carter Center is unique in its ability to provide or mobilize the essential ingredients for a successful global Guinea worm disease eradication campaign: political will, financial support, technical expertise, and strong partnerships. With its access to world leaders, the Center can mobilize government officials and garner support for the Guinea worm disease eradication campaign, while working at the village level to empower and educate communities to take simple measures to improve their own health.

The national Guinea worm programs work within local public health care systems, strengthening those that exist and providing a basis for public health in areas not currently served. The programs train local health care workers to help abolish Guinea worm disease.

The Center reinforces national Guinea worm disease eradication programs by providing advocacy, technical and financial assistance, and commodities, such as donated filter cloth material, larvicide, medical kits, and logistics.

The Center's supporters help make the Guinea worm eradication campaign possible and include the governments of Canada, Denmark, Japan, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Republic of Finland, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Foundations, including The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the Saudi Fund for Development, the United Nations Foundation, and UNICEF, provide generous support for eradication as well. Japan, for example, assists The Carter Center in providing funds for vehicles, cloth filters, and promoting the need for sources of safe drinking water.

The E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company and Precision Fabrics Group have donated nylon filter cloth. American Cyanamid, American Home Products, and BASF have provided the larvicide ABATE®, and Johnson & Johnson donated enough medical supplies, such as Tylenol®, forceps, and gauze, to treat more than 3,000 endemic villages. Hydro Polymers of Norsk Hydro provided more than 9 million Guinea worm pipe filters to Sudan.

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Health Programs

Guinea Worm Eradication Program