Health Programs

These bimonthly reports highlight the historic progress being made toward eradication of Guinea worm disease. 

The current total of indigenous cases of Guinea worm disease (January through May 2009) is 845, a 42 percent reduction over the same period in 2008 (1,463). 

The total number of Guinea worm cases reported for all of 2008 was 4,619*, a 52 percent reduction over 2007 (9,585).

When The Carter Center began leading the campaign to eradicate Guinea worm in 1986, there were an estimated 3.5 million cases of the disease in 20 countries in Africa and Asia. Today, there are fewer than 5,000 cases in six African countries—Sudan, Ghana, Mali, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Niger—making Guinea worm disease poised to be the next disease after smallpox to be eradicated.

 

	Indigenous Cases of Guinea Worm Reported: Jan-Mar 2008 and Jan-Mar 2009 Click for 2008-2009 bar graph (PDF) >
	Percent change in the number of indigenous cases of Dracunculiasis reported: Jan-Mar 2008 and Jan-Mar 2009* Click for 2008-2009 comparison by country (PDF) >
	Cumulative Number of Reported Cases of Dracunculiasis by Year: 2008-2009* Current Guinea Worm Cases Jan. to May 2009:  845* indigenous cases of Guinea worm disease (*provisional figures, reflecting a 42 percent decrease from the Jan. to May 2008 total of 1,463). (Click to enlarge)