Health financing is a core function of health systems that can enable progress towards universal health coverage by improving effective service coverage and financial protection. Today, more than half of the population in the WHO African Region cannot access the health services they need, with cost being one of the main barriers. Many are pushed into poverty as a result of paying for services out-of-pocket. Others receive poor quality of services even when they are able to pay out-of-pocket. 

Guinea-worm disease, or dracunculiasis, is a parasitic disease that is transmitted through drinking stagnant water that has been contaminated with a tiny parasite-infected flea. Once inside the body, the larvae can mature into worms that grow up to 1 metre in length.

Symptoms of guinea-worm disease do not usually occur until one year after infestation. A person may develop a fever, swelling and pain in the area where the adult worm is ready to come out. The location may vary but 90% of the worms come out in the legs and feet.