9 countries said goodbye to a devastating disease in 2024
Nine countries eliminated a disease in 2024. Here's how Pakistan pulled it off — fulfilling a young boy's dream of eliminating blindness caused by bacterial infections.
![9 countries said goodbye to a devastating disease in 2024](https://cryptofortress.app/uploads/images/202412/image_870x_6772e0e864e74.webp)
![Clockwise from upper left: Nomads from the Peul tribe give blood samples to be tested for sleeping sickness. In 2024, Chad got rid of one form of the disease. Brazil and Timor Leste eliminated lymphatic filariasis, the disfiguring parasite that causes a condition known as elephantiasis. A doctor sees children during a leprosy screening campaign; Jordan eliminated the disease this year. An elderly farmer woman receives an eye exam for trachoma in Vietnam — which along with India and Pakistan — eradicated the disease, which causes blindness, in 2024.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4000x2250+0+0/resize/4000x2250!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8b%2F7b%2Fddf3b2184cf392913cd19b5677a7%2Fdiseases-2024.jpg)
Nine countries eliminated a disease in 2024. Here's how Pakistan pulled it off — fulfilling a young boy's dream of eliminating blindness caused by bacterial infections.
(Image credit: Clockwise from upper left: Patrick Robert/Corbis via Getty Images; Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images; STR/AFP via Getty Images; Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty Images
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