How Guinea Worm Disease Eradication Campaign Achieved the Impossible

Play video: A public health success story: The near-eradication of Guinea worm

Guinea worm disease may soon become the second human disease to be eradicated, following smallpox. The stunning decline in annual human cases of this painful parasitic infection—from 3.5 million in 1986 to 10 in 2025—is the result of an eradication campaign led by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, his team at The Carter Center, and their partners around the globe. With no treatment, vaccine, or diagnostic to fight the disease, some believed it would be impossible to eradicate. But campaigners succeeded through boots-on-the-ground public health work in countries including Ethiopia, Ghana, and South Sudan, tracking down cases and empowering communities to stop the spread.

The Carter Center screened a documentary about the campaign, The President and the Dragon, at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on March 3. Featured in the documentary are “Guinea worm warriors” including Harvard Chan School alumnus Donald Hopkins, along with people who have been afflicted by the disease. The event, which was hosted by the Harvard Chan School Studio, also included a panel discussion with the Carter Center’s Sarah Yerian and Emily Staub, and Rochelle Walensky, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and a Carter Center board member.

Watch the event above.

Read the full story here.