Preventing Pain for Millions of People
When the 24/7 news cycle focuses on human suffering to boost ratings and sell more advertising space, I try to remember the people who are preventing human suffering. People who are preventing pain for literally millions of other people. People like Jimmy Carter.
Jimmy Carter has gone to war, and he has been fighting the good fight for over 30 years. It is not a war against a nation, people, or ideology, but a war against an insidious parasite. That parasite is the guinea worm. It has afflicted countless people throughout human history. Thanks to his hard work, it may become a thing of the past in the near future.
Back in 1986, the guinea worm afflicted approximately 3.5 million people a year in 20 different countries. As I describe this parasites living cycle, I invite you to imagine yourself experiencing it. Then remember that 3.5 million people experienced that excruciating process every year.
The guinea worm enters the human body through contaminated water, such as the water you cook with, clean with, and drink to stay alive. The guinea worm then gestates inside the human host for a year. Once it has matured, it exits the human body through a painful blister. The worm reaches up to 3 feet in length. The extraction method was to wrap the end of the worm around a stick, and slowly revolve the stick over the period of a several weeks.
In 1986, when Jimmy Carter started to combat the guinea worm, approximately 3.5 million people underwent that process a year. As of January 2015 there were only 17 cases in four countries. Thanks to The Carter Center literally millions of people are spared this cycle of pain. The guinea worm is close to becoming the first parasitic disease to be eradicated.
Thank you Jimmy Carter. You are literally helping millions of people live healthier, happier lives. Thank you.
