Benin

Transmission stopped: March 2004  
Certification of Dracunculiasis Elimination: 2009 

In 1993, Benin reported approximately 14,000 cases of Guinea worm disease, and The Carter Center helped the Ministry of Health establish a national eradication program. 

Our Work and Methods

• Prevention approaches introduced in local communities included:
  • Health education 
  • Distribution of nylon filters to sieve out tiny water fleas carrying infective larvae 
  • Monthly treatment of stagnant ponds with safe larvicide 
  • Direct advocacy with water organizations 
  • Increased efforts to build safer hand-dug wells 

Impacts

• The national program reported a 90% decrease in Guinea worm cases from 2003 to 2004. In 2005, Benin demonstrated that transmission had been stopped. The country was certified by the World Health Organization to have eliminated Guinea worm disease.  

Working with the Benin Ministry of Agriculture, the Carter Center’s Agriculture Program began helping farmers with agricultural production in 1989. The program, in partnership with the Sasakawa Africa Association and led by the late Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug, was part of a larger joint initiative that helped more than 8 million small-scale, sub-Saharan farmers double or triple crop yields. 

Our Work and Methods

• The program provided farmers with credit for fertilizers and enhanced seeds to grow test plots, often yielding 200% to 400% more crops. Participating farmers went on to teach others, creating a ripple effect to stimulate self-sufficiency.

This project ended in 1999.