Dracunculiasis eradication: delayed, not denied.

By the end of 1998, Asia was free of dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease), with Pakistan, India, and Yemen having interrupted transmission in 1993, 1996, and 1997, respectively. Transmission of the disease was also interrupted in Cameroon and Senegal during 1997. Chad reported only 3 cases during 1998.

Dracunculiasis eradication: March 1994 update.

Substantial progress has been realized in the global campaign to eradicate dracunculiasis by the end of 1995 since a previous review of the subject was published in this journal a year ago. All known endemic countries are now engaged in the eradication effort, and one or more control measures are now in place in 93% of endemic villages. Despite improved surveillance for the disease, the number of reported cases of the disease has been reduced by 41% (to about 221,000), and the number of known endemic villages has been reduced by 28% (to about 16,500) in the past year.

Dracunculiasis eradication: beginning of the end.

Beginning with the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990), an increasingly broad coalition of international and bilateral agencies, organizations, private companies, and other institutions have joined forces to eradicate dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease). From an estimated annual incidence of 10 million persons just before the campaign began, the remaining incidence of cases is now less than two million. More than 23,000 villages are known to be endemic.

Nutritional status of preschool children in Togo, 1976-77.

Survey teams visited 163 rural villages and 41 urban quarters in Togo and collected data on weight, height, arm circumference, age, and pedal oedema from 6120 children aged 6-72 months. Haemoglobin levels were determined for one-fifth of the survey children. When 80% of the reference median weight-for-height was used as the cut-off point, the prevalence of acute undernutrition was 2.