A Personal Recollection of Smallpox Eradication with the Benefit of Hindsight: in Commemoration of 30th Anniversary

Abstract

This year 2010 marks the 30th anniversary of smallpox eradication, as declared by the WHO Assembly in 1980. As someone who worked for this program for many years, I would like to present my recollection of how it succeeded and what lessons can be learnt, with the added benefit of hindsight. The program achieved the global unification of mankind despite differences in race, nationality, religion, and politics, and research contributed significantly to building the effective strategy that ultimately led to success. These lessons should be useful in a designing a planning solution for many of the problems we face in today's changing world, including problems regarding health security and even those in current and future socioeconomic regions.