PART 6.1

PART 6.1

In the early 1960s, India accounted for nearly 60 percent of the reported smallpox cases in the world. The Indian government had launched the National Smallpox Eradication Program which focused on mass vaccination. By 1966, the Indian government reported approximately 60 million primary vaccinations. Mass vaccination campaigns had become part of the culture, and there was wide trust in this singular approach. However, the number of smallpox cases in India was increasing and India needed a new strategy. Mass vaccination was effective in reaching approximately 60% of the population but was not able to prevent new outbreaks in Bihar state. The surveillance and containment approach had been demonstrated to be effective in African countries and Brazil, and had been initiated throughout India. But there were some influential people in India who felt they had enough smallpox workers and that this new strategy was a foreign strategy. Leaders from CDC and WHO worked side-by-side with Indian leaders to implement the new surveillance and containment strategy, but it was not enough to bring about acceptance of the new approach. The Minister of Health of the state of Bihar felt political pressure to stop this new strategy and threatened to go back to mass vaccination.

FEATURING

Dr. Bill Foege, Senior Advisor, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Dr. Susmita Parashar, Associate Professor, Emory University School of Medicine