The Global Eradication of Smallpox

The Global Eradication of Smallpox is a product of two series of lectures presented at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL, London, in 2007 and 2008. The book contextualises the global programme and the many factors contributing to the certification of smallpox eradication worldwide in 1980.

The volume contains first-hand stories of the "warriors" involved in eradicating smallpox (a goal considered by many to be impossible), the difficulties faced by them and the strategies adopted to overcome these difficulties. These contributions will, therefore, be of interest to teachers and students of public health, as well as those involved in designing and managing current and future disease elimination and eradication programmes. All the articles in the volume also highlight the importance of recognising the human factor in all major global health programmes-campaign managers of global health programmes and the members of target populations interacting in a complexity of ways. This volume delves into this important element of the global smallpox eradication programmes, whilst recognising that they cannot be easily quantified or made the subject of overarching generalisations.