Guinea Worm Eradication: Celebrating a Humanitarian Legacy

In the 1980s, UNICEF and partners took on Guinea worm, a debilitating parasitic disease. Joining them in that fight: former President Jimmy Carter.

We’re on the cusp of an enormous global achievement. Guinea worm, a neglected tropical disease (NTD), has nearly been eradicated. A scourge to humankind across millennia, it’s been postulated that the medical emblem with a snake wrapped around a staff is actually a Guinea worm. As with the fight against polio, this work has required decades of international coordination and mobilization in 21 countries across Africa and South Asia. UNICEF has been at the forefront of these efforts, bringing water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) expertise to vulnerable, often remote communities. And starting in 1986, a powerful ally — former U.S. President, statesman and humanitarian Jimmy Carter, along with The Carter Center — played a key role in taking the fight to the next level.