The Eradication of Smallpox
Lessons from the largest vaccine campaign in human history
While the COVID-19 pandemic made 2020 an unfortunate year in the history of infectious disease control and prevention, the year also marked an important historical epidemiological milestone worth celebrating.
It was on May 8, 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially announced the eradication of smallpox at the 33rd World Health Assembly meeting. Thus, 2020 was the start of a global pandemic but also the 40th anniversary of ending one.
The announcement in 1980 marked the end of an extensive worldwide effort. The vaccine campaign to eradicate smallpox was not simple and quick but instead was a rather long and protracted effort utilizing resources worldwide.
The coordinated effort to eradicate smallpox is essentially the largest coordinated vaccine effort in human history. And that is why the anniversary of the eradication of smallpox is more important now during this timeframe more than ever before.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has raged across the globe for longer than a year there are many lessons to be learned and potentially applied from the smallpox vaccine campaign that we can take into the future.
