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Dear All,
Please find below, from Alan Schnur and others, additional documentation on the eradication of smallpox from India. Can any readers cast further light on the extent to which smallpox eradication remained, to the end, a responsibility of the states and union territories, without centralized control? Replies, please, to rdavis@africamail.com
Bob
From: A. Schnur <schnurah@gmail.com
Date: Thu, Dec 10, 2015 at 11:55 PM
Subject: Re: MOST CONSULTED ITEMS ON SMALLPOX ERADICATION, 2015
To: Robert Steinglass <robert_steinglass@jsi.com
Cc: James Skelton <jskelton7@comcast.net, peter carrasco <rcphs@aol.com
Hi Robert,
Seems Bob Davis is still going strong!
There are lots of publications on smallpox out there. He should look
at Leigh Hendersons zeropox website for more publications. I think
the new website name is www.zero-pox.info (the website name had to be
changed after some glitches). Also the report of the meeting on
smallpox eradication in Rio that Ciro and Joel Breman organized. He
can also look at <www.OrientBlackSwan.com and search for smallpox.
Orient Blackswan Private Limited has published several books on
smallpox, including by Sanjoy Bhattacharya and Dr Arita and a book
with chapters based on a lecture series (written by DA, Larry
Brilliant, Dr Arita, Joel Breman, et. al.).
Bobs conclusion that Indira Gandhi shifted responsibility for
smallpox eradication from the states to the centre (as shown below) is
inaccurate:
Devotees of decentralization will look in vain through the smallpox
literature for texts to make their case. It was not until Mrs. Gandhi
transferred smallpox eradication from the state to the federal list that a
centrally run eradication effort, managed from New Delhi, finally made its
mark.
Health was, and still is, a state responsibility in India. The central
government only provides guidance, and funding to get states to accept
its programs (similar to US and CDC Atlanta). In Bihar, the central
government could twist the arms of state government officials to let
WHO-funded experts get involved, but in other states, the program was
run by the state authorities, and WHO and central government experts
worked through the local staff. The central government and NICD (R.N.
Basu, et. al.) could only push, cajole, monitor and send experts to
check and make recommendations. The states maintained the main
responsibility and the main work was done by the states.
There are already many lists of books and articles on smallpox
eradication. Need to link up with the appropriate databases.
Best regards.
Alan
On 12/10/15, Robert Steinglass <robert_steinglass@jsi.com wrote:
Hi,
FYI. See this additional call for smallpox memories and documents.
Best,
Robert
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <info@childsurvival.net
Date: Thu, Dec 10, 2015 at 7:16 AM
Subject: MOST CONSULTED ITEMS ON SMALLPOX ERADICATION, 2015
To:
*MOST CONSULTED ITEMS ON SMALLPOX ERADICATION, 2015*
As the public health community moves from polio to measles eradication, we
might benefit from a backward look at what is still the only successful
initiative at eradicating a human disease thus far completed.
The huge W.H.O. history of smallpox eradication, by Fenner and colleagues,
is now online, at http://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/39485
Among useful if smaller books on the subject are “The Management of
Smallpox Eradication in India,” by Lawrence Brilliant, “Smallpox: Death of
a Disease,” by D. A. Henderson, and “House on Fire,” by William Foege, who
describes how surveillance and containment was developed in Nigeria and
introduced, over opposition, in India. Horace Ogdens “CDC and the Smallpox
Crusade” documents how CDCs work, especially in West Africa, made global
eradication more credible, at a time when the head of W.H.O., Marcolino
Candau, doubted that it could be done.
In the articles listed below, the contributions of J D Millar, CDC, are
acknowledged in his obituary, item 1; his views on eradication appear in
item 8.
Bhattacharya and Dasgupta, in item 3, compare Indian approaches to smallpox
and polio eradication. Bhattacharya has an analysis of the W.H.O. role in
smallpox eradication, item 7.
Devotees of decentralization will look in vain through the smallpox
literature for texts to make their case. It was not until Mrs. Gandhi
transferred smallpox eradication from the state to the federal list that a
centrally run eradication effort, managed from New Delhi, finally made its
mark.
The last country in the world with naturally occurring transmission was
Somalia. Dr. Abdullahi Deria has given a brief account of that last battle
at http://www.sabin.org/sites/sabin.org/files/Abdullahi%20Deria.pdf
The account by Fenner and colleagues, cited above, gives more detail. In
one incident, a field surveillance officer, believing concealment was
taking place, deliberately drove his Land Rover into a hole, causing a
crowd of dozens to assemble. Among the dozens were several smallpox cases.
His engineered accident had served its purpose. He began containment
immediately.
Any recollections from SEP veterans should go to rdavis@africamail.com; I
will reprint any received.
Good reading.
BD
1. NYT OBITUARY: DR. J. DONALD MILLAR, WHO LED C.D.C. MISSION THAT
HELPED ERADICATE SMALLPOX, DIES AT 81
http://www.childsurvival.net/?content=com_articles&artid=4670
183
2. UNCERTAIN ADVANCES: A REVIEW OF THE FINAL PHASES OF THE SMALLPOX
ERADICATION PROGRAM IN INDIA, 1960-1980
http://www.childsurvival.net/?content=com_articles&artid=4486
137
3. A TALE OF TWO GLOBAL HEALTH PROGRAMS SMALLPOX
ERADICATION LESSONS FOR THE ANTIPOLIO CAMPAIGN IN INDIA
http://www.childsurvival.net/?content=com_articles&artid=4483
130
4. SMALLPOX AND POLIO ERADICATION IN INDIA: COMPARATIVE HISTORIES
AND LESSONS FOR CONTEMPORARY POLICY
http://www.childsurvival.net/?content=com_articles&artid=4480
124
5. REFLECTIONS ON THE ERADICATION OF SMALLPOX
http://www.childsurvival.net/?content=com_articles&artid=4482
93
6. MULTIFACETED CONTRIBUTIONS: HEALTH WORKERS AND SMALLPOX
ERADICATION IN INDIA
http://www.childsurvival.net/?content=com_articles&artid=4484
92
7. THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION AND GLOBAL SMALLPOX ERADICATION
http://www.childsurvival.net/?content=com_articles&artid=4485
89
8. J. D. MILLAR ON SMALLPOX ERADICATION
http://www.childsurvival.net/?content=com_articles&artid=4671
82
9. INTERNATIONAL HEALTH AND THE LIMITS OF ITS GLOBAL INFLUENCE:
BHUTAN AND THE WORLDWIDE SMALLPOX ERADICATION PROGRAMME
http://www.childsurvival.net/?content=com_articles&artid=4479
77