Dracunculiasis eradication: certification of interruption of transmission

Overview

The International Commission for the Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication held its sixth meeting at WHO headquarters in Geneva on 5–7 March 2007.

The commission reviewed and noted the significant progress that has been made towards achieving the target of eradicating dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease) over the past few years, including the reduction in the number of endemic countries from 12 countries in 2003 to 9 in 2006; all of the endemic countries are in sub-Saharan Africa. The annual number of cases has decreased from 75 223 in 2000 to a low of 10 674 in 2005. However, during 2006, a total of 25 217 cases were reported from 4086 villages. The majority of cases (82%; 20 582/25 217) and villages (82%; 3346/4086) reported in 2006 were from southern Sudan; this is the result of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005 which gave increased accessibility during 2006 to areas that were previously off limits because of the civil conflict. Ghana ranks second in terms of endemicity and in 2006 reported a total of 4136 cases (16% of the global total) from 606 villages (15% of the global total). In 2006, the 7 other endemic countries (Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Togo) reported a total of 499 cases from 134 villages.