PART 9.1

PART 9.1

An effective vaccine for preventing smallpox had been discovered and tested by 1796. And by the 1970’s widespread vaccination resulted in most people in rich countries being vaccinated and almost completely protected. Smallpox was actually eliminated from developed countries in the 1970s. But the burden of smallpox was inequitably distributed. People in some poor countries remained vulnerable and faced high risks of mortality from smallpox. It was within the poorest communities that smallpox was spread. In some countries, such as India, vaccine programs were struggling to eradicate the disease. As long as there were pockets of smallpox in poor communities within low-income countries, the entire world was at risk of smallpox. This is a pattern that is seen with many different diseases and conditions today: wealthier people in high-income countries tend to be free from or protected against diseases and injuries that continue to affect low-income people. The health problems and risks of the poor continue long after they have been reduced or eliminated for the wealthy. Diseases and conditions continue to circulate among the poor and in low-income countries creating big disparities.

FEATURING

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

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