From 30 Million Cases to Zero

In the developing world, intestinal worms stunt physical and mental growth, drain energy, and can inhibit school work for children. Deworm the World is a global campaign that lobbied the Delhi government to regularly distribute deworming pills to school children. The benefits decrease student absenteeism and increase cost-saving measures.

Local agencies tasked with controlling disease-spreading organisms are releasing sterile male mosquitoes to help reduce the pest’s population and prevent the spread of dengue. This strategy has decreased the mosquito population by about 82% in parts of Southern California, marking the first time in eight years that the population has declined instead of increased.

Nigeria accounted for 31.8% of all malaria-related deaths globally in 2020. The Block Malaria Africa Initiative employs behavioral change communication to promote positive health outcomes by studying behavior and providing effective messages and materials that address each community’s needs to educate people on what malaria is and how it can be prevented.

The turkey and chicken industries have struggled with salmonella outbreaks that are more virulent and less responsive to antibiotics. The turkey industry responded immediately, forming a task force to study and fight the strain, vaccinating breeding flocks, setting up better barn sanitation, and making changes in processing plants to reduce cross-contamination. The chicken industry’s response has been slow and not transparent, and as a result it continues to spread and make people sick. On the other hand, 73% fewer turkeys are found to have the bacteria and reports of people getting sick have fallen by 65%.

In March when fewer than 100 coronavirus infections had been found in the U.K, researchers in Cambridge decided to begin sequencing coronavirus samples as part of an "unparalleled surveillance system for Covid" that could identify and track possible mutations or the virus. This effort – which involves labs sending leftover material from testing swabs to the researcher's genomics lab where they are stored and analyzed – has culminated in hundreds of thousands of genome sequences and "sounded an alarm for the world" about the new fast-spreading variant.

With climate change, population pressures and mobilization epidemics will occur more frequently, and past ones have proven to be disastrous and expensive. The Center for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is focused on developing vaccines to viruses such as Ebola, as well as creating a fast approval path for future vaccines and helping increase global preparedness for future epidemics.

Social and economic factors are increasingly being linked to health circumstances and outcomes. This article highlights the city of Richmond, California, which has responded to this correlation, integrating issues of health into all levels of policy.

Westerners' fear of infection of Ebola motivated a vaccine in record time, but a preventive system put in place could ensure similar results for other viruses before they reach the same magnitude.

A nightmare scenario of Ebola raging unchecked among millions of slum-dwellers in Africa's largest city has given way to a rare example of a victory over the virus.

In collaboration with local government and organizations, The Carter Center launched an initiative to curb the spread of neglected tropical diseases, like river blindness. Throughout the initiative, the Center provided health education to rural communities most affected by the disease and also led a mass drug administration of Mectizan, which is known to kill the parasite that causes river blindness. Over 20 years, the Center administered 27 million doses of the medication, effectively eliminating the disease.