In 1977, we successfully eradicated Smallpox.
It was a big day for world health and everyone was excited by the possibility of a disease
free world.
But since then, we’ve eradicated…
well, nothing.
Not one human affecting disease and it’s not for lack of trying.
Take polio for example.
We know how it spreads and we have the vaccine.
So, why aren’t we able to eradicate it?
Well, having the vaccine is only half the battle.
And the other half, may involve creating world peace.
More than 90% of polio cases are asymptomatic, meaning that most people who have polio don’t
show symptoms or even know that they have the disease.
So, we can’t eradicate it entirely from the living population.
All we can do is vaccinate people and hope that the disease eventually starves out.
But that’s harder to do than you might think, because war torn countries and terrorist-controlled
areas are especially difficult to vaccinate.
Many, impossible.
The Taliban in Northern Pakistan for example is currently boycotting international vaccination
efforts as a way of protesting US drone attacks.
They’re also suspicious of vaccination programs, because the CIA has a history of using them
as a cover for covert ops.
Adding to all of this, is the fact that polio spreads more quickly in areas with poor hygiene
and bad sanitation.
So war torn nations, poverty stricken areas, and refugee communities are all seeing an
increase in the disease.
In 2012, there were 223 reported cases of polio.
In 2013, that number rose to 417 new cases, and 3/5th of those were in areas previously
deemed “polio-free.”
It’s spread from Pakistan to Afghanistan, Syria to Iraq, Cameroon to Equatorial Guinea,
and the list goes on.
And all of those places are hot spots for violence, extremist groups, poverty, and conflicts
in general.
To have a real shot at truly eradicating polio or any other disease, we’d first have to
ban together to eradicate violence, oppression, and poverty worldwide.
Which is no small feat.
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