Campaign to Eradicate Guinea Worm in Hard-Hit Nigeria May Have Worked

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Sommige Amerikanen (een pinda boer, die toevallig ook president is
geweest in dit geval) weten wel hoe ze dingen aan moeten pakken.

Heel wat anders dan de kerel (Senator?), die ik zojuist op CNN zag
verkondigen dat de USA de hele discussie over het klimaat links moest
laten liggen. "We have enough resources in USA to keep the machine
called USA running."
Yeh, keep driving in your SUV man (jammer dat CNN items niet afsluit met
de namen).

Groet / Cees

PS. Dit bericht dateert van 8dec09, werd niet verzonden omdat verzender vergat adres toe te voegen ;)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/health/08glob.html
December 8, 2009
Global Health
Guinea Worm: Campaign to Eradicate Guinea Worm in Hard-Hit Nigeria May
Have Worked
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
After 20 years, the Carter Center is ready to declare a major victory in
its war on guinea worm: Nigeria, once the worst-afflicted country in the
world, appears to be free of the worms.

It will take two more years for the World Health Organization to make it
official, but not a single worm has been found in Nigeria for 12
consecutive months, said Dr. Donald R. Hopkins, chairman of the
International Task Force for Disease Eradication, which is based at the
Atlanta organization created by former President Jimmy Carter.

In 1989, during the first survey of the global scope of the problem,
Nigeria had an estimated 653,000 cases.

Eradication “is a wonderful thing, and I suggest Nigeria take advantage
of this to brag on themselves,” Dr. Hopkins said, adding that the 50th
anniversary of independence from Britain next year would be a good
opportunity.

Guinea worm — or dracunculiasis — inspires universal horror. People are
stricken when they drink pond water infested with microscopic fleas, in
which the worm larvae live. The worms grow to resemble translucent
three-foot strands of spaghetti and finally emerge by exuding acid that
bursts the skin; the pain can be crippling for months.

Only four countries — Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali and Sudan — still have the
worms. About 3,000 of them were found as of last month, down from three
million across the globe when Mr. Carter began his effort to wipe them
out.

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