CEND It! with Adam Weiss and the Carter Center

In our third installment of our monthly lunch series "CEND It!", we were thrilled to have Adam Weiss, MPH, Director of the Carter Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program, and colleagues from the Carter Center. Weiss highlighted the extraordinary progress of the campaign, which has reduced cases by more than 99.99%—from an estimated 3.5 million cases across 21 countries in 1986 to just 10 human cases reported in 2025. Drawing on his field experience in Ghana and Ethiopia, he discussed the community-based interventions and behavior change strategies that have driven success in the six remaining endemic countries, as well as emerging challenges such as infections in animals. The talk underscored how a global health campaign, operating without a vaccine or medicine, has brought guinea worm to the brink of becoming the second human disease in history, after Smallpox, to be eradicated. It also sparked thoughtful discussion among CEND affiliates and researchers about the final push toward zero cases. Learn more about the Carter Center’s Guinea Worm Initiative and its other global public health programs here.