WATCH: President Carter Shares One Of His 'Most Gratifying Moments'

This article is part of HuffPost’s Project Zero campaign, a yearlong series on neglected tropical diseases and efforts to fight them. Former President Jimmy Carter has dedicated the past three decades of his life to fighting diseases in poor countries ― and he’s not stopping anytime soon. In a recent interview with The Huffington Post, Carter explained the importance of working with diseases that affect some of the most vulnerable groups of people around the globe but that generally don’t get a ton of international attention. “These afflictions cause not only human suffering, but they also cause terrible blows to [countries] in economic status,” said Carter. “If a large portion of the population of a country cannot work or go to school, the whole country suffers.” On Jan. 11, his foundation, the Carter Center, announced a major victory: Guinea worm has been eliminated in Mali, thanks in part to the Carter Center’s programs.  This disease ― which largely affects poor populations in Africa and can cause 2- to 3-foot worms to grow in people’s bodies ― is close to being wiped out worldwide. There were just 25 reported cases of Guinea worm in three African countries last year, compared to 3.5 million cases across 21 countries in 1986, when the Carter Center first began fighting the disease. “We estimate that about 80 million people have not had a Guinea worm because of the Carter ...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news