The Disease Retreats

The global campaign to eradicate Guinea worm has reduced the total number of Guinea worm cases from an estimated 3.5 million in 1986 to fewer than 3,200 cases in 2009 – a reduction of 99.9 percent!

The campaign has successfully eliminated the parasite in Asia and in 13 African nations. In 2009, for the first time in history, not a single case of Guinea worm was reported in Nigeria or Niger. The battle now focuses on the front lines in only four remaining African countries: Sudan, Ghana, Mali, and Ethiopia.

The new documentary film, FOUL WATER/FIERY SERPENT, tracks the daily work of technical advisors from The Carter Center and local partners as they fight Guinea worm disease on the critical front lines in Ghana and Southern Sudan. The film offers a rare inside look at the challenges facing health workers in remote, impoverished areas, showing how perseverance, innovation and grit will soon wipe this terrible disease from the face of the Earth.