The World Health Organization (WHO) has certified the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) free of transmission of Dracunculus medinensis, the parasite that causes Guinea-worm disease.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, congratulated DRC Health Minister Dr Jean-Jacques Babanda and the field teams who worked tirelessly to achieve the significant milestone.
Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall, the newly-appointed director of WHO’s Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases said: “I am glad to start my new position with such good news. We now need to focus on certification of Sudan as the next milestone on the way towards global eradication of Guinea-worm disease”.