Removing the Scar of Guinea Worm Disease - One Village at a Time
Chief Tahanaa suffered from Guinea worm disease as a child. Knowing the crippling effects first hand, he vows to wipe out the disease from his village. The Carter Center/Rhett Turner
The muddy pond is as brown as the hillsides surrounding it. It is the peak of dry season in Ghana and Chief Tahanaa looks over the water he has been drinking since he was a child.
"I know what people are going through," he says, lifting his robe to reveal a sunken, coin-size scar on his left calf
His scar is a reminder of the Guinea worm disease he suffered as a child. Today, painful memories drive his commitment to eradicate the ancient disease from his village. Chief Tahanaa's dedication is changing the face of his community and helping Guinea worm disease become the second disease in history to be eradicated after smallpox. The Carter Center continues to fight the last fraction of 1% of the disease in the six African countries where it remains.
People contract Guinea worm disease when they consume stagnant water that is contaminated with tiny water fleas carrying infective larvae. Inside a human's abdomen, Guinea worm larvae grow for nearly a year. Once mature, the meter-long Guinea worm slowly emerges through a large, seeping blister in the skin. The crippling pain leaves victims unable to work or attend school, sometimes for months, until the worm is completely removed by a health care worker.
People contract Guinea worm disease when they consume stagnant water contaminated with tiny water fleas carrying infective larvae. The Carter Center/Emily Staub
Peak transmission of Guinea worm disease coincides with the onset of the dry season, when communities are forced to share one water source. During this time, increased vigilance is necessary to prevent infected people from contaminating the water. Currently five communities collect water from Taha's pond.
To escape the intense burning sensation caused by the blister, sufferers often seek to cool their wounds in nearby water sources. When the worm touches water, it releases hundreds of thousands of larvae. Water fleas eat the larvae, and the disease cycle continues.
After a visit from Ghana's national Guinea worm program staff a few years ago, Chief Tahanaa realized there was something he could do to protect his village. He gathered the community for health education to ensure that everyone – old and young – learned how to prevent the debilitating disease. He had a platform built next to the pond so that water collectors would not step into it and possibly contaminate the water with Guinea worm larvae.
Chief Tahanaa levies fines, such as goats, on villagers who do not use the platform. Villagers who do not report cases to the local health volunteer or refuse treatment also are subject to similar fines.
When the Carter Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program began in 1986 there were approximately 3.5 million cases in the world. Today there are fewer than 5,000 cases—all in Africa. Thanks to numerous strong partnerships, the disease is steadily dwindling. Currently, Ghana is the most endemic country in West Africa, and second in the world only to war-torn Sudan. Together, Sudan and Ghana shoulder more than 95% of the remaining Guinea worm cases.
In Ghana, for thousands of years the peak transmission of Guinea worm disease has coincided with the onset of the dry season. As small village ponds dry up, women and children are forced to walk farther and farther to collect water. Currently five other communities share Taha's water because their own water sources dried up weeks ago, increasing the chances that the disease might be introduced by someone from a Guinea worm-endemic community. One untreated Guinea worm case can cause a regional outbreak.
Several years ago a large Guinea worm outbreak in Taha left families unable to tend to their farms. The poor crop yield that season burdened the entire village. Today, the constant grinding of the peanut mill alludes to the community's good physical health and economic abundance.
"Now everyone is healthy and going about his or her activities," Chief Tahanaa says proudly. Story originally published 27 September 2006.
Back to Guinea Worm Eradication Program main page or Carter Center main page
Adapted with permission from the Carter Center website,www.cartercenter.org, February 2009.
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