by: Alanna Shaikh

You may recall that back when I made my debut on this blog, I renamed Guinea Worm to “Spend a month pulling a long worm out of a hole in your body disease.” Well, if you ever wanted to see exactly what’s involved in that month-long process, I have a movie for you.

“Foul Water Fiery Serpent” is a new documentary that tracks efforts to eliminate Dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm) in Sudan and Ghana. I haven’t seen it yet, but I watched the trailer and the very cool animation of the guinea worm. (And yes, the trailer does show an actual worm extraction. That’s why it’s labeled “viewer discretion advised.”)

The film documents three years of eradication efforts in the two countries, and I think it’s an interesting insight into the difficult mechanics of disease eradication. As the film’s website states, they follow health workers as they “distribute filter cloths, treat water sources with safe pesticide, educate villagers about avoiding the worms, and treat victims suffering from the disease.”

It’s unusual to have a film that really looks at this kind of prevention work. It’s a lot easier to hook an audience if you focus on sick kids and glamorous cures. Taking the time to look at where a disease like Guinea Worm comes from and how you can keep infection from spreading is a lot harder but, I think, makes for a better story in the end. It’s not really a story if you only tell 20% of it, right?

I admit the film’s website is a little over the top:

“Through a relentless cycle of successes and failures, facing ignorance and superstition in a vast landscape ravaged by war, the heroes in this story are making medical history in an epic struggle to drive an ancient enemy into extinction…Following the victory against smallpox, Guinea worm is likely to be the next disease in the history of mankind to be eradicated from the Earth.”

They have a point, but I suspect they could have made it with fewer adjectives. Though I guess you have to respect anyone who can get that excited about a tropical disease. I seem to be seeing all sides of this discussion.

Whatever you think about the language of the website, it is a compelling movie on a topic that can be very dry. If you work in global health, and you’ve ever wanted to show your friends what you do for a living, this movie might be your key to seeming extremely cool. (Then you have to admit that you plan and administer efforts like these and don’t ever actually talk to Sudanese villagers, but that’s a topic for another day.)

Aside from making public health professionals look cool, the movie rightfully highlights the incredible efforts that have been made to eradicate Guinea Worm. We’re not going to eliminate tropical disease with a lot of this kind of spade work, and this film shows us exactly what that work will look like.

(Possibly my favorite thing about the movie, by the way, is this accompanying interview with Makoy Samuel Yibi)

Alanna Shaikh is an expert in health consulting, writing about global health for UN Dispatch and about international relief and development at Blood & Milk. She also serves as a frequently contributing blogger to ‘End the Neglect.”