Ghana on Thursday declared the eradication of Guinea worm in the country, after a 23-year fight against the disease, the Associated Press/Seattle Times reports.

“Ghana’s triumph over Guinea worm disease serves as a reminder to the world and the remaining endemic countries that the greatest challenges can be overcome with hard work, political commitment, and the support of the international community,” former President Jimmy Carter said in a statement from the Atlanta-based Carter Center, which has been working to fight the disease in Ghana since the 1980s, the news agency notes. “Guinea worm disease remains endemic in newly independent South Sudan and in pockets of Mali and Ethiopia. Chad also recently experienced an isolated outbreak,” the news agency writes (Kokutse, 7/28).