Eradicating GWD in the countries where it is still endemic remains the most challenging task. There are a number of low-cost methods to prevent people from becoming infected with Guinea worm disease:
providing safe drinking water supplies
filtering drinking water using fine-mesh cloth
intensifying case containment (health worker can clean the ulcer, gradually pulling out the worm, disinfecting and bandaging the lesion to prevent secondary bacterial infection)
preventing infected persons from wading into water sources to relieve the pain
intensifying health education and social mobilization
treating ponds (water sources) with Abate (which kills the water fleas)
Aggressive approach urged
Eradicating GWD in the countries where it is still endemic remains the most challenging task. The commission urged partners to endorse the need for a more aggressive approach towards the eradication of GWD, pushing for a higher profile in WHO. For decades, an army of health workers from WHO and various organizations all over the world dedicated to this cause has been deployed and works round the clock to ensure that prevention methods are carried out and existing cases are monitored. “This disease can be arrested easily, and with a more streamlined approach to transmission control and the priority that the Director-General has given to neglected tropical diseases, we are on our way to eradicating this disease for good,” says Dr Abdul Rahman Al-Awadi, the Chairman of the ICCDE.
The commission concluded that eradication remained an achievable goal. The recent commitment of the Director-General to address the neglected tropical diseases as part of poverty reduction strategies, giving particular attention to Africa, provides the window of opportunity desperately needed to achieve this goal.