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Data

When were countries certified free of guinea worm disease?

WHO

What you should know about this indicator

How is this data described by its producer - WHO?

Elimination of dracunculiasis is the confirmed absence of the emergence of adult female worms (the interruption of transmission of Dracunculus medinensis) in humans and animals for three consecutive years or longer from a country with such a low risk of reintroduction of the parasite that preventive measures could be reduced to a strict minimum.

When were countries certified free of guinea worm disease?
WHO
To be certified as free of , a country must have reported zero indigenous cases through active surveillance for at least three consecutive years.
Source
World Health Organization (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Last updated
March 17, 2026
Next expected update
March 2027
Date range
2025–2025

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

World Health Organization – Certification status of dracunculiasis eradication

Retrieved on
June 17, 2024
Retrieved from
https://web.archive.org/web/20211024081702/https://apps.who.int/dracunculiasis/dradata/html/report_Countries_t0.html
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
World Health Organization. Certification status of dracunculiasis eradication, 2017
Retrieved on
June 17, 2024
Retrieved from
https://web.archive.org/web/20211024081702/https://apps.who.int/dracunculiasis/dradata/html/report_Countries_t0.html
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
World Health Organization. Certification status of dracunculiasis eradication, 2017

How we process data at Our World in Data

All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across Our World in Data.

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Notes on our processing step for this indicator

The current and historical values for the status of Guinea worm disease (Dracunculiasis) as certified by the WHO. To be certified as free of guinea worm disease, a country must have reported zero indigenous cases through active surveillance for at least three consecutive years.

Data regarding certification status is available at the WHO: https://web.archive.org/web/20211024081702/https://apps.who.int/dracunculiasis/dradata/html/report_Countries_t0.html

We have added the recent changes to Guinea worm disease certification:

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Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: When were countries certified free of guinea worm disease?”, part of the following publication: Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Max Roser (2016) - “Global Health”. Data adapted from World Health Organization. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260603-111255/grapher/year-country-was-certified-free-of-guinea-worm-disease.html [online resource] (archived on June 3, 2026).

How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

World Health Organization (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data

Full citation

World Health Organization (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. “When were countries certified free of guinea worm disease? – WHO” [dataset]. World Health Organization, “Certification status of dracunculiasis eradication” [original data]. Retrieved June 3, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260603-111255/grapher/year-country-was-certified-free-of-guinea-worm-disease.html (archived on June 3, 2026).

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