On May 8, 1980, the 33rd World Health Assembly, the World Health Organization (WHO) officials declared smallpox eradicated (WHA33.3) with the statement ‘the world and all its peoples have won freedom from smallpox“…”Such an achievement is unprecedented in the history of public health.” [1, 3, 4]
The Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication, which began in May 1978 and was led by Australia’s Frank Fenner, submitted their final report in December 1979. The report contained two conclusions: “that smallpox eradication has been achieved throughout the world; and, second, that there is no evidence that smallpox will return as an endemic disease”. [5]
The acceptance, as public health policy, of a planned programme designed to eradicate a disease over a large geographical area was a new development. The global programme on smallpox eradication was initiated by the WHO in 1958 (WHA11.54). In 1966, the 19th WHA requested that the director general of WHO launch a global programme to eradicate smallpox, from 1967 the international cooperation “intensified”. [5, 6, 7]
Dryvax, a smallpox vaccine, originally licensed in 1944 to Wyeth Laboratories, Inc. was used in mass vaccination campaigns. [2]
“Before 1967, the smallpox eradication strategy relied on mass vaccination. However, this strategy was ineffective in densely populated regions” so quarantine of the infected was used, and was effective as “most frequent mode of transmission was person-to-person, spread through direct deposit of infective droplets…” In the end, only those close contact of smallpox case were vaccinated.
Cowpox (vaccina vaccine) inoculation coined the term “vaccination” which began 1798. Historical records has revealed that for over 150 years mass vaccination campaigns failed to control smallpox, but seemed to prolong it’s incidence, sanitation and quarantine measures done more for reducing smallpox incidence.