In a final push to wipe out Guinea worm disease around the world, Britain announced on Wednesday it will give substantial backing to a new project to eradicate the parasite within this decade but insists other donors and countries must also provide much needed funds.

If money is forthcoming, the final push funded by Britain and other donors, spearheaded by former US president Jimmy Carter, looks set to consign the debilitating parasitic disease to the history books alongside smallpox, and become the first ever to be eradicated without the help of drugs or vaccines.

UK’s International Development Minister Stephen O’Brien said in a statement:

“Guinea worm is a painful disease of poverty and afflicts the world’s poorest and most isolated communities. Families go hungry as parents are unable to work and they go without medical treatment because they cannot afford it.”

“For the price of a sandwich, we can prevent someone in the developing world from catching this terrible disease,” he urged.

Carter said Guinea worm is a horrendous disease that “prevents people from escaping poverty”.

“I welcome the challenge laid down by the British government. The UK has shown its willingness and staying power to help eradicate this debilitating disease. I call on other donors to match their efforts,” urged Carter.

Britain has pledged £20 million to the Carter Center over four years to support the global campaign if other donors come forward.

The goal is to stop transmission of the disease worldwide before 2015 and by the end of this decade, ensure the World Health Organization certifies that the disease has been eradicated.

Guinea Worm Disease, also known as dracunculiasis, is a parasitic infection caused by Dracunculus medinensis, a very long and thin nematode or roundworm whose larvae are carried by tiny microscopic crustaceans called copepods or water fleas that live in stagnant water.

The worm larvae enter people when they drink the stagnant water. About a year later, the mature worm emerges from its host. First a blister appears on the infected person’s skin, usually on the leg or foot. Within the next three days, the blister bursts, as one end of the worm begins to appear, and as it emerges from the wound, it causes an agonizing burning pain.

Infected people have to lay in bed for months at a time. Although not fatal, the consequences are debilitating. When it affects adults, children have to miss school for weeks and months, and when the worm finally emerges, the wound it leaves can become infected with life-threatening bacteria such as Clostridium tetani (causes tetanus).

The fight to eradicate it has been impressive and a testament to what human beings, spurred by committed leadership, can do when they join forces against disease.

In the mid 80s, the parasite was endemic to 20 nations in Asia and Africa, claiming some 3.5 million victims every year. Since then, worldwide, the disease has been reduced by 99%. In 2010 there were only 1,797 cases worldwide, all in Africa. In the last two years it has been eradicated in Nigeria, Niger and Ghana, but cases remain in South Sudan, Ethiopia and Mali, with an isolated outbreak in Chad.

“Britain is ready to help fund the final push to eradicate this debilitating disease and we now need others to join us in taking this historic opportunity to rid the world of Guinea worm,” said O’Brien, applauding President Carter’s leadership and commitment, which has brought the worm to the “brink of eradication”.

As there is no cure or vaccine, the campaign focuses on teaching people how to avoid the disease, including measures such as:

  • Training and supervising locals to follow outbreaks and keep an eye on use of water sources such as ponds and dams,
  • Providing health education,
  • Distibuting filters for drinking water, and
  • Ensuring sufficient local supplies of the larvicide that kills the worm in the early stages of infection.

Had the Carter eradication campaign not started in 1986, an estimated 3.5 million cases a year would have continued to occur. The campaign has probably prevented nearly 80 million cases of Guinea worm infection, at an estimated cost of $3.47 each.

As well as supporting the treatment and containment of Guinea worm disease, Britain supports the provision of clean drinking water and safe sanitation to prevent diseases like Guinea worm from spreading.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD