Britain Supports Jimmy Carter’s African humanitarian campaign

Britain Supports Jimmy Carter’s African humanitarian campaign

Britain vowed Wednesday that it will support the campaign spearheaded by Jimmy Carter, former U.S. president, by contributing £20 million as a support to eradicate parasitic disease in some African countries by 2015. Carter hopes to reach $70 million or approximately £45.3 million or 52.6 million euros in donation.

The target amount will be enough to eliminate guinea worm that has been plaguing some African countries since the 80s. It is a water-borne disease, causing agonizing pain and leaves victims paralyzed for months. Britain’s contribution will be forwarded to the Carter Center, Jimmy Carter’s humanitarian organization responsible for the campaign.  Carter, 87 year old, has started working for the eradication of the disease since 1986, the same year the program of Carter Center began.

During a London press conference, Carter said that it is a great privilege for his center to undertake a huge project that no one else in the world has adopted. An example is the guinea worm campaign. Currently, there is no vaccine or cure to prevent the fast spreading of the disease. The target amount of $70 million will be utilized to spread awareness and educate people on how to avoid getting infected by guinea worm. Also included in the program is an extended and strict surveillance period to make sure that the disease won’t return again.

Aside from a reported isolated outbreak in the African country of Chad, the disease only exists in Ethiopia, Mali and South Sudan. In the 80s, 20 countries reported a total of 3.5 million people infected by guinea worm but as of 2010, fewer than 1,800 people were the only reported guinea worm cases.

Posted by James Fried on Friday October 07 2011, 5:16 AM EST. Ref: Reuters. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0