The World Health Organization has issued certificates of eradication of Guinea Worm to Cameroon and Sierra Leone. These two countries join now join the list of countries in Africa certified free from incidences of Guinea Worm infection. Known cases of infection are now limited to 12 countries in Africa; Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote D'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, Sudan and Uganda.

In Sierra Leone the news was broken by the Minister of Health and Sanitation, Mrs Abator Thomas. She however said Sierra Leone had been requested by the WHO to set up a surveillance mechanism through the National Health Information System (HIS) to track and report any incidence of recurrence.

In Cameroon the certificate of eradication was handed to the Minister of Health Urbain Olanguena Awono, with a similar mandate to Cameroon to set up a national system of surveillance which will continue working to report any recurrence. In particular there is a need to monitor and prevent the spread of infection from neighbouring Nigeria which has been a problem in the past.

Guinea Worm also known as Dracunculiasis, is a preventable infection caused by the parasite Dracunculus medinensis. Infection affects poor communities in rural areas that do not have safe water to drink.