An international effort to eradicate Guinea worm disease, spearheaded by former President Jimmy Carter and the Carter Center, reached another milestone.
The center announced that the campaign has reached “its final stages” with 542 cases reported worldwide in 2012.
These provisional case numbers, reported by ministries of health in the remaining four endemic nations , show that cases of the disease were reduced by nearly half last year. According to the Carter Center, there were 3.5 million cases of Guinea worm in 21 nations in Africa and Asia in 1986.
“The collateral impact of this campaign is immense; it empowers people in some of the world’s most neglected communities to protect themselves from a terrible disease and to believe in the possibility of a brighter future,” Carter said in a statement.
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