Carter visits Sudan

Accra, Feb. 12, GNA - Former US President Jimmy Carter, who has been at the forefront of the war against Guinea worm, is visiting Sudan where the disease is still endemic

He is visiting the remote village of Molujore, Terekeka County, Southern Sudan, where food shortages are common, insecurity lingers, and survival is a daily struggle, according to a statement from the carter Centre.

Yet, important progress is being made in the effort to wipe out Guinea worm disease, resulting in the community being singled out for a visit from former President Carter, Central Equatoria State Governor Clement Wani Konga and Commissioner Clement Maring Samuel to urge intensification of efforts to wipe out the waterborne parasitic infection during the next transmission season beginning in April.

"Every citizen, whether they live in a Guinea worm endemic community or not should be committed to Guinea worm eradication in Sudan," said former President Carter, who later participated in a post-village visit press conference at the Assembly Hall in Juba with representatives from the Ministry of Health.

"The Carter Centre will remain committed to supporting the aspirations of the Sudanese people to wipe out Guinea worm and to promote peace and health in the future."

President Carter was joined by a Carter Centre health delegation including Dr. John Hardman, Carter Centre president and CEO, Dr. Donald Hopkins, vice president of Health Programmes, and Richard Blum, a member of the Carter Centre's Board of Trustees.

A waterborne parasitic infection acquired by drinking contaminated water, Guinea worm disease (or dracunculiasis) incubates in a person for about a year until one or more worms as long as 1 metre exit the body painfully and slowly from a blister in the skin.

With worldwide case reductions down by more than 99 per cent from approximately 3.5 million in 1986 to fewer than 3,500 in 2009, Guinea worm disease is poised to become the next disease after smallpox to be eradicated from Earth and the first to be wiped out without the use of a vaccine or medicine.

Sudan is considered the last frontier for the international Guinea worm disease eradication effort - in partnership with The Carter Centre -because of the long civil war and continuing insecurities in the region that had made many endemic areas inaccessible to health workers.

"It is impossible to say how great it will be for the people of Southern Sudan for Guinea worm disease to be eradicated," said Government of Southern Sudan Minister of Health Dr. Joseph Manytuil Wejang. "Without eradication, thousands of people in our poorest communities will be incapacitated each year. The potential to improve the social and economic conditions is limitless."

Since 1989, President Carter has worked tirelessly to help reduce human suffering in Sudan caused by conflict, disease, and malnutrition. In 1995, he secured one of the longest humanitarian cease-fires ever achieved to jump-start Sudan's campaign against Guinea worm disease, pilot the effort against river blindness, and provide an opportunity for children to be immunized against polio and other illnesses.

Many of the disease prevention methods put in place during the unprecedented six months of relative stability were maintained by local communities and health workers, even after the recurrence of violence. Terekeka was one of the counties that benefited from this cease-fire, receiving Guinea worm health education and other preventive measures for the first time.

However, conflict in the county constrained further interventions for a decade until the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 paved the way for the establishment of a full-scale Guinea Worm Eradication Program in the region. In Sudan overall, the incidence of Guinea worm disease has been reduced from 118,578 cases in 1996 to a provisional total of 2,753 cases reported in 2009 - a 98 per cent decrease. Since 2003, there have been no indigenous cases of Guinea worm disease in northern Sudan. 12 Feb. 10