Guinea Worm

The Pipe Filter is a simple mechanical filter (125 micron) used in the Carter Center’s Global 2000 program that aims to eradicate Guinea worm disease. The Carter Center is an aid organization set up by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

The Pipe Filter is a plastic pipe with a stainless steel mesh that filters out guinea worm larvae from contaminated water.

So far, Vestergaard Frandsen has supplied 23 million Pipe Filters to the Carter Center, which have been distributed throughout Africa in countries such as Sudan, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya and Mauritania.

“Persons who travelled away from the household for extended period of times did not have a way of protecting themselves from the Guinea Worm Disease. In 1994, we tested (at CDC) the efficacy of PVC pipe filters in the removal of copepods, and what length and diameter would be ideal for their use. Those results led to their large scale use in Guinea Worm Eradication Programs.”

Dr Ernesto Ruiz-Tiben,
Technical Director–The Carter Center, Guinea Worm Eradication Program (GWEP)