At Work Around the World

Chad

In 1998, with help from The Carter Center, Chad became one of only eight nations to stop transmission of Guinea worm disease since the campaign began in 1986.

Building Hope

More than 200 ethnic groups call Chad home. Its diversity has been simultaneously a great strength and opportunity for weakness. The nation's history is riddled with internal division and political turmoil as a result of violent competition among some groups for power, making economic development extremely difficult. However, Chad's success in stopping Guinea worm disease is a testament to the nation's potential to unite and control major problems. The Carter Center was there to help Chad achieve this goal and is very proud of what the nation has accomplished.

Fighting Disease

Current Status: Transmission stopped, 1998
Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication: Pending

Since 1986, the Carter Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program has led a world coalition fighting to eradicate this devastating disease. Chad is one of 10 nations in the world to have stopped transmission of Guinea worm disease. The Carter Center, through provision of technical and financial assistance, worked with Chad's Ministry of Health to avert the suffering of thousands from this ancient parasite.

In 1993, a total of 1,231 cases of Guinea worm disease were found in a national case search. Six of Chad's nine national provinces were endemic to the disease, including 106 villages. The program's strategy for eradication consisted of several components, primarily driven by health education in collaboration with local ministries of health.

The project changed behavior, mobilized communities to improve the safety of their local water sources, and taught people how to prevent contamination of their water sources by always filtering drinking water. Approaches introduced to the communities include: education on proper use of and distribution of nylon filters to strain out the intermediate host; safe, monthly ABATE® larvicide treatments of stagnant ponds; direct advocacy with water organizations; and increased efforts to build safer hand-dug wells. Village volunteers were trained, supplied, and supervised by the program to carry out monthly surveillance and interventions.

In Chad, in addition to these measures, messages on Guinea worm eradication were prepared in national languages and broadcast by radio. Bolts of cloth with a Guinea worm eradication slogan, donated by The Carter Center, were distributed to program staff and village health workers for the purpose of publicizing the program and motivating those concerned. These efforts came to fruition in 1997, when Chad stopped transmission of Guinea worm disease (12 consecutive months of zero indigenous reported cases). This historic accomplishment positively benefited the entire country, as more children could attend school and more adults could return to work.

Chad's success overcoming Guinea worm gives hope that other problems can be addressed with the same hard work and commitment. The Carter Center held a special ceremony in Atlanta in 2000 to honor Chad, Senegal, Cameroon, Yemen, Pakistan, India, and Kenya as having reached a milestone in Guinea worm eradication efforts. These nations were the first among the 20 endemic countries to stop transmission of Guinea worm disease for at least one year. Read Nations Celebrate Progress Against Guinea Worm (The Carter Center News, July-December 2000, p.6, PDF).

Learn more about the Carter Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program.

UPDATED JUNE 2007