Chapter 1 : Eradication: a Prologue

Abstract:

This chapter is a prologue to the book Global Disease Eradication: the Race for the Last Child . It provides an insight into the book, commencing from the history of eradication and completing with the three global campaigns to eradicate malaria, smallpox, and polio. The history of eradication itself is such that it raises serious questions about whether we can and whether we should attempt to eradicate another disease. Eradication programs are as delicate as a child's health. They are built around the child. While Global Disease Eradication: the Race for the Last Child focuses on all aspects of disease eradication, the image of the child remains most powerful. Eradication cherishes an ideal—freedom from disease—that makes sense to most people and that transcends mere ethnic or national divisions. Often this message gets across, even in the most difficult of circumstances. Each of the three campaigns was interesting in its own right, but more importantly, each shaped the international programs that will follow in our race to save the last child.