Guinea Worm Eradication Program

A campaign launched in 1986 to eradicate dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease), led by the Carter Center in partnership with the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF. Because no vaccine or drug exists against the parasite, the program relies entirely on behavior change and infrastructure: filtering drinking water, treating contaminated water sources with larvicide, and containing infected patients to prevent them from re-contaminating water supplies. It targets rural, water-insecure communities across endemic African countries. Annual human cases fell from an estimated 3.5 million across 21 countries in 1986 to fewer than 20 provisional cases worldwide by the early 2020s, putting the disease on pace to become only the second human disease ever eradicated, after smallpox, and the first without a vaccine or medicine.