dignitaries worldwide in celebration of the 97 percent eradication of

Guinea worm disease. This tremendous accomplishment is due in large part 
to
years of teamwork by an international coalition organized by The Carter 
Center
in close collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention
(CDC). A primary goal of the coalition is to work closely with African 
health
officials to identify infected villages and teach residents how to filter

drinking water. Because of this successful initiative, Guinea worm 
disease is
expected to be totally eradicated within the next two to three years.<p>
	Controlling river blindness is next on The Carter Center's agenda. In 
its
chronic form, onchocerciasis, a parasitic disease, produces visual 
impairment
and blindness through the accumulation of young microfilarial worms in 
the
eyes. The worms are transmitted via bites from a certain species of 
female
blackfly that breeds in fast flowing rivers. People living in endemic 
areas are
constantly reinfected, experiencing rapid, unnatural aging of the skin,
depigmentation, thickening of the epidermis and intense itching as well 
as
visual damage. Currently, 18 million people are infected, 1 million are 
sight
impaired and more than 350,000 have been blinded.<p>
	In 1995, The Carter Center's Global 2000 Program joined the ranks of the 
River
Blindness Foundation (RBF), UNICEF, Africare, the International Eye 
Foundation
and others in an effort to fight this devastating disease. The Global 
2000
River Blindness Program, headed by Don Hopkins (who also heads The Carter

Center's Guinea worm eradication program), is scheduled to assume
responsibility for RBF projects in Nigeria, Uganda, Cameroon, and Latin 
America
in late March and will assist other countries where the disease is 
endemic.
Frank Richards, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC, has been detailed 
to
help with the transition.<p>
	The primary means of fighting river blindness is via the oral drug 
Mectizan.
Made and distributed by Merck and Company, Mectizan taken in a single 
dose
kills most of the microfilaria in an adult human for one year. However, 
because
it does not kill the adult female worm, it must be given annually for at 
least
10 years to prevent the number of microfilaria from reaching levels 
needed to
cause blindness and skin disease. Merck and Company has pledged to donate 
the
Mectizan free of charge to programs distributing it where needed. Various

agencies have taken on this challenge, including The Carter Center.<p>
	As Richards summarized, "The Carter Center, in shouldering the task of
achieving global control of both Guinea worm and river blindness, 
continues its
long tradition of seeking to improve the lives of the world's most 
vulnerable
populations."<p>
<p>
Ann Carney is assistant communications coordinator <p>
at The Carter Center.
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