India and other countries of the South East Asian region have officially been certified as free of guinea worm disease (dracunculiasis) by the World Health Organization (WHO). This is the second disease to be eradicated from the region—smallpox was the first.
The 4th International Commission for Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication gave its clearance mainly on the basis of the report of its three member certification team, which visited India in November 1999 and investigated 62 villages in five states where the disease had been endemic.
Guinea worm disease is thought to have existed in India for several thousand years. In 1947 India was estimated to have some 25 million cases. When the Indian government launched its national guinea worm eradication programme in 1983-4, nearly 40000 cases occurred annually in more than 12000 villages scattered over seven states. Sustained campaigns were launched at grassroots levels by agencies such as Unicef and the WHO, with government collaboration.
Banwari Lal, a 25 year old man from the Jodhpur district in Rajasthan, was India's last reported case of guinea worm disease, in July 1996.
The programme has been evaluated seven times by independent experts. “This is a remarkable achievement made possible by active intersectoral collaboration between the key departments of health, water supply, and rural development,” said Henk van Norden, the coordinator of Water Supply—a division of Unicef—which played a crucial part in the eradication of guinea worm disease.
The zeal displayed by workers from village level to the top leadership played a critical part in this success story, he said.
Although guinea worm disease has been eradicated from India, it still exists in a dozen countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with Sudan having the most cases.