Abu Dhabi: Fight against Guinea Worm Disease

Countries renewed their commitment to eradicate Guinea worm disease by signing a historic proclamation in Abu Dhabi. The parasitic worm Dracunculus medinensis causes Guinea worm disease, a neglected tropical disease. It affects poor communities in distant parts of Africa who drink worm-infested water because they don't have access to safe drinking water. The 'Abu Dhabi Declaration on the Eradication of Guinea Worm Disease' was signed during the Guinea Worm Summit at Qasr Al Watan in Abu Dhabi on World Water Day. Guinea Worm Disease has been declared eradicated in a historic proclamation. Photo: SUPPLIED In the presence of Sheikh Shakhboot Nahyan Al Nahyan, Cabinet Member and Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Jason Carter, grandson of former US president Jimmy Carter and board of trustees at the Carter Center; and Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organisation, leaders from Angola, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Chad, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan signed the 'Mission Zero' declaration. "Access to safe water and sanitation is important in the prevention, care and management of all neglected tropical diseases, the diseases of poverty, that massively impact the health of over 1 billion people,” Dr Ghebreyesus said. The Reaching the Last Mile Fund was launched in November 2017 by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, with the goal of raising $100 million to eradicate, eliminate, and control preventable diseases that affect the health and economic prospects of the world's poorest people. Sheikh Mohamed pledged a $10 million donation to the Carter Center in January 2021. Only 15 human cases of Guinea worm illness were reported worldwide last year, a historic low compared to 3.5 million cases in 1986, thanks to the consistent commitment of partners and governments concerned. "Reaching this milestone is a success story of world health," said Dr Dieudonné Sankara, WHO team leader for the Guinea Worm Eradication Programme. “Elimination efforts have positive financial impacts that uplift the community and relieve people from cycles of poverty,” said Tala Al Ramahi, associate director, Crown Prince Court's Office of Strategic Affairs. Guinea worm sickness, after smallpox, could become the second human disease to be eradicated in history if coordinated efforts are made. Simon Bland, CEO, Global Institute for Disease Elimination said that: “The last human disease to be eradicated was smallpox, and that was 42 years ago. Guinea worm disease is now on the cusp of eradication. But, on the cusp is not zero and on the cusp is hard." KMB/Expat Media
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