Brazzaville, 17 March 2014 --  Nigeria and Niger  -- two of the five African countries certified by WHO in December 2013 as being free from guinea-worm disease -- have been presented with certificates indicating their new guinea-worm free status.

Cote d’Ivoire, which was formerly endemic, and Somali and South Africa, which have never reported any cases are the other three countries certified by WHO on 13 December 2013 as being guinea-worm free.

With the certification of the 5 countries as being guinea-worm-free only 4 countries in the Region -- South Sudan, Ethiopia, Mali and Chad -- are endemic for the disease.

On 15 January, Nigeria’s Health Minister, Prof.  C. O. Onyebuchi, presented a formal notification about Nigeria’s certifica-tion as a guinea-worm disease-free country to President Goodluck Jonathan

While receiving the certificate, the Nigerian leader said: “We are pleased today to receive from the Director General, Dr. Margaret Chan, the certificate from the WHO indicating that Nigeria is now a guinea worm-free country. Just as we have fought guinea worm and succeeded,  so are we committed in our fight against many endemic diseases such as HIV AIDs, Malaria, Tuberculosis and of course polio. I am pleased that we are making appreciable progress on all these fronts on which considerable investment in terms of resources have been made”.

One of the largest and longest campaigns to eradicate guinea-worm disease has been in Nigeria, which in 1988 was the most endemic country worldwide, reporting more than 650 000 cases annually from about 6000 endemic villages. The interruption of Guinea worm disease in Nigeria is a major milestone for the global disease eradication effort.

A formal notification about Niger's certification as a guinea-worm disease-free country was presented to Niger’s Health Minister, Mr. Mano Aghali, by WHO Representative in Niger, Dr Assimawè Pana, at a ceremony held in Niamey on 17 February 2014.

Dr Pana commended the people of Niger for the achievement and pledged WHO’s continued support for the country in strengthening monitoring and reporting activities in the fight against guinea worm disease.

Receiving the certificate, Mr. Aghali traced the history of the fight against guineaworm disease from 2008 to 2013 when the government requested WHO to send an evaluation and certification mission to the country.

The Minister linked Niger’s efforts to achieve eradication of Guinea worm to the fight against poverty, school absenteeism and the heavy workload of women, all of which, he said, were also the Government's priorities as contained in the 2012-2015 Social and Economic Development Plan”. 

______________________________________________

Communication, Media and Advocacy Unit:
cam [at] who.int  Tel: +47 241 39100