title: The eradication of smallpox--an overview of the past, present, and future.
abstract: The 30th anniversary of the declaration of smallpox eradication is a propitious time to look back on the evolutionary history of the program, its execution, and its legacy for the future. The eradication of history's most feared disease culminated a decade-long World Health Organization campaign which began despite skepticism and doubt and succeeded despite a never ending array of obstacles occasioned by floods, civil war, famine, and bureaucratic inertia. New concepts in public health management, surveillance, and the application of large-scale programs for vaccination were fostered and matured. A new generation of young health workers emerged who applied new approaches and experienced the gratification of public health achievement. A definitive legacy for the future was the extension of the program into an "Expanded Program on Immunization", now functioning world-wide and resulting in dramatic improvements in health through control of vaccine-preventable diseases. No less important are the growing number of multi-national programs whose foundations rest on the development of active case surveillance to measure achievement and to guide progress - poliomyelitis, measles, guinea worm, and rubella.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins University, Center for Biosecurity, 621 East Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA. dahzero@aol.com
authors.forename: Donald A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Henderson
mesh_terms: D060740:Disease Eradication / Q000266:history* / Q000379:methods*; D014943:Global Health; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D011635:Public Health Administration / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods; D012899:Smallpox / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014612:Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D014612:Vaccines