Guinea Worm Disease News and Research

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PAHO and The Carter Center join hands on the elimination of onchocerciasis across the Americas

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and The Carter Center signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement today to strengthen collaboration on the elimination of onchocerciasis — also known as river blindness — and other communicable diseases in the Americas.

21 May 2026

WHO validation marks Kenya’s success in eliminating sleeping sickness

The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Kenya as having eliminated human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) or sleeping sickness as a public health problem, making it the tenth country to reach this important milestone.

10 Aug 2025

Senegal becomes ninth African country to eliminate trachoma

The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Senegal as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. Senegal becomes the ninth country in WHO's African Region to have achieved this feat.

15 Jul 2025

WHO Results Report 2024 shows progress on global health goals amid financial uncertainties

The World Health Organization (WHO) Results Report 2024, shows progress on global health goals, even in times of growing financial uncertainties.

12 May 2025

Niger becomes first African country to eliminate onchocerciasis

The World Health Organization (WHO) congratulates Niger for having met the criteria for onchocerciasis elimination, making it the fifth country globally and the first country in Africa to be acknowledged by WHO for interrupting transmission of the parasite Onchocerca volvulus.

31 Jan 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': New Year, new Congress, new health agenda

The new, GOP-led, 119th Congress and President-elect Donald Trump have big legislative plans for the year — which mostly don't include health policy. But health is likely to play an important supporting role in efforts to renew tax cuts, revise immigration policies, and alter trade — if only to help pay for some Republican initiatives.

9 Jan 2025

Guinea worm cases near eradication, but animal infections pose new challenge

The CDC's latest report in the MMWR reveals significant progress in the global fight against guinea worm disease, with human cases dropping to 13 in 2022 and only three in the first half of 2023. However, challenges remain due to rising animal infections and civil unrest in affected regions.

16 Nov 2023

Final push needed to achieve full eradication of Guinea worm disease

The number of human cases of Guinea worm disease halved in 2021 to a record low of 14, putting the goal of global eradication in sight, the US-based Carter Center has announced.

1 Feb 2022

WHO commemorates World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day with focus on promoting health equity

The World Health Organization kicked off this year's commemoration of World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Day under the theme 'Achieving health equity to end the neglect of poverty-related diseases' with a call to focus more on strengthening interventions in order to promote equitable health services for all.

28 Jan 2022

WHO marching toward extraordinary progress against neglected tropical diseases, report reveals

Since 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been reporting outstanding success in dealing with neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) with 1 billion people estimated to have received treatments in 2015.

19 Apr 2017

WHO urges affected countries to increase investment in tackling neglected tropical diseases

WHO urges affected countries to scale up their investment in tackling 17 neglected tropical diseases in order to improve the health and well-being of more than 1.5 billion people. This investment would represent as little as 0.1% of current domestic expenditure on health in affected low and middle income countries for the period 2015-2030.

19 Feb 2015

New York Times profiles Carter center's leader for guinea worm eradication

The New York Times on Monday profiled Donald Hopkins, who is leading the fight to eradicate Guinea worm in his role as "vice president for health programs at the Carter Center, the group founded by former President Jimmy Carter to advance human rights and fight disease."

25 Apr 2013

Carter Center Guinea worm eradication program in 'final stages'

"Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced today that the international Guinea worm eradication campaign spearheaded by the Carter Center has reached its final stages with only 542 cases reported worldwide in 2012," a Carter Center press release reports.

19 Jan 2013

WHO warns of dengue's spread, says progress made against NTDs in new report

"Dengue is the world's fastest-spreading tropical disease and represents a 'pandemic threat,' infecting an estimated 50 million people across all continents, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday," Reuters reports.

17 Jan 2013

WHO reports unprecedented progress against 17 neglected tropical diseases

WHO reports unprecedented progress against 17 neglected tropical diseases, thanks to a new global strategy, a regular supply of quality assured, cost-effective medicines and support from global partners.

17 Jan 2013

Guinea worm disease on verge of eradication, WHO reports

"The World Health Organization reports Guinea worm disease, which has plagued people for thousands of years, is on the verge of eradication," VOA News reports. "The U.N. agency says fewer than 400 cases of the infectious parasitic disease exist in four African countries, and that it will soon become only the second, after smallpox, to be wiped off the face of the earth," the news service writes.

30 Aug 2012

Washington Post examines Guinea worm eradication efforts

The Washington Post examines global efforts to eradicate Guinea worm disease, writing, "The parasitic infection which has sickened millions, mostly in Asia and Africa, is on the verge of being done in not by sophisticated medicine but by aggressive public health efforts in some of the poorest and most remote parts of the world."

29 Aug 2012

Globe and Mail profiles former President Jimmy Carter, Carter Center's efforts to eradiacate guinea worm

The Globe and Mail profiles former President Jimmy Carter and the Carter Center's decades-long efforts to eradicate guinea worm disease, also known as dracunculiasis. According to the newspaper, "In 2011, there were 1,060 cases of guinea worm disease identified in the world, in four countries," and "staff and volunteers from the Carter Center have visited every one of the 26,500 villages where guinea worm was identified" to provide education on prevention, as well as treatment.

25 Apr 2012

South Sudan hoping NTD initiative will bring relief from high levels of disease, IRIN reports

"Decades of war, neglect, and lack of development have left South Sudan with nine out of 10 of th[e] key neglected tropical diseases [NTDs] -- all but Chagas disease, which is endemic to South America," and health workers in the new nation are hoping that the recent formation of a large public-private partnership to combat the diseases "will finally help to have an impact on South Sudan's appalling health indicators," IRIN reports.

24 Feb 2012

Jimmy Carter calls upon donors to help eradicate Guinea worm disease

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is appealing to countries and donors to eradicate guinea worm disease from the world once and for all. The U.K. pledged $31 million over four years for the effort and has called upon other countries to match them.

6 Oct 2011