Killing the Guinea Worm

February 3-5 : Ghana Greetings from Ghana. We departed en route to Accra Tuesday afternoon with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation. Ghana was the first country in which Rosalynn and I ever visited endemic villages, and we'll never forget seeing two-thirds of the total population incapacitated with the disease, many of them lying around under shade trees unable to walk. I described the scenes in my first message in this series. With our personal involvement and strong support from the national government, there were only 8,432 cases six years later, in 1994. There has been stagnation in Ghana's efforts since then, and in the last three years the number of cases reported has risen from 4,739 to 8,283. All nations except Ghana have made significant and steady progress in recent years, resulting in a total reduction from 3.5 million to less than 35,000 (2003 provisional figures)-more than 99 percent. There are several excuses put forward for Ghana's poor performance: some ethnic conflict in the northeast, migrant farm workers that transmit the disease, and a lack of central control from the national government. The most disturbing event occurred last year when a serious outbreak of Guinea worm in the central section, around Lake Volta, was deliberately concealed. Solemn promises by the government to dig wells have not been honored. The Carter Center has marshaled a series of exceptional efforts to overcome these problems, but all have been fruitless. There is no doubt that our visit is timely, but we have received word that top officials are very concerned about our potential criticisms. Some intense observation, incisive analysis, and political diplomacy will be necessary...

The above excerpt is from President Jimmy Carter's new blog which documents his current travels through Africa. Fascinating reading... check it out. (Thanks to Skippy for pointing to this site.)