The Death of a Disease
By D. A. Henderson, MD, MPH
Geneva, Switzerland, May 8, 1980 - The 33rd World Health Assembly declares solemnly that the world and all its peoples have won freedom from smallpox...a most devastating disease...since earliest time. In so doing, it demonstrates how nations working together in a common cause may further human progress."
In May of this year, the World Health Assembly celebrates the 30th anniversary of its historic declaration of global freedom from the ravages of smallpox, the most virulent of all pestilential diseases.
The planned campaign to achieve eradication began in January 1967. That year, 43 countries experienced more than 10 million cases and 2 million deaths.
