Dream Come True for Jimmy Carter: Guinea Worm Disease is Almost in Extinction

The former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, has dedicated his time and resource to fighting the Guinea Worm disease, which was ravaging poor countries in the 1980s.

The Guinea Worm disease is an infection caused by a parasite known as Dracunculus medinensis. The disease is mainly spread by drinking water contaminated with Guinea Worm larvae, which live in fresh water. When people drink from contaminated ponds and other bodies of stagnant water, they become infected with the parasite. The larvae then turn into worms that grow up to 3 feet long,  after which, the worms create a blister on the legs or feet.

In the 1980s, more than 3 million cases of Guinea Worm disease were being recorded annually, around the world, with the majority of reported cases in Africa. It was a devastating moment for the then Guinea Worm affected countries.

In those days, the affected countries were badly hit with severe economic and political crises. Some countries had to turn to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for assistance; because these institutions do not care about the social welfare of the masses, austerity measures were implemented, making education, health, food, and other social services very expensive.

Poor residents living in the rural areas had no access to potable water. They had to rely on ponds and other stagnant water bodies as a source of drinking water. Lack of potable drinking water in the rural areas helped in the spread of the disease.

When the worm first erupts, the person suffers a burning sensation and often seeks comfort by submerging the wound in a river or a stream. The worm takes this opportunity to release a cloud of tens of thousands of larvae into the water. Other people end up drinking that larvae-laden water, which starts the cycle all over again. This allowed the disease to cause havoc to many people in the past, due to ignorance.

There is no medication to kill the worms. The only treatment is to slowly pull or cut the worm out of the infected person’s body. This led to Jimmy Carter focusing on preventive measures, such as providing clean water to rural residents and education on the disease.

In Ghana for example, the north of the country was the epicenter of the disease. It even prompted Mr Carter and his wife to visit the area in 2007, witnessing the progress being made in the fight against the disease.

“They have to put a knife in fire until it’s red hot. Then they would incise it [the blister]. Usually the pus would open and the Guinea worm emerged. Sometimes the Guinea worm is even cut into pieces. It wasn’t just a minor parasite. It was serious. In one person about three or four worms could appear on any part of the body. You have to extract one after the other until you get all the parasites out,” a Guinea Worm expert, Ringo Naah Sulley, who worked on the Guinea Worm eradication programme initiated by Mr Carter in Ghana, explained how the disease was treated in the 1990s and the early 2000s.

However, currently, the good news is that so far this year, only two cases of the disease have been recorded around the world. The two cases were recorded in Chad. It is said they were even contained before they had a chance to spread.

Last year, the 91-year-old Carter announced that his last wish is to see the Guinea Worm disease completely eradicated from the world before his death. He said “I’d like the last Guinea worm to die before I do.”

From the current statistics on the disease, it obviously appears that Mr Carter has achieved his dream of a Guinea Worm free world.

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