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"At the turn of the twentieth century, smallpox claimed the lives of two million people per year. By 1979, the disease had been eradicated and victory was declared across the globe. Yet the story of smallpox remains the exception, as today a host of deadly contagions, from polio to AIDS, continue to threaten human health around the world. Spanning three centuries, The End of Plagues weaves together the discovery of vaccination, the birth and growth of immunology, and the fight to eradicate the world's most feared diseases. From Edward Jenner's discovery of vaccination in 1796, to the early nineteenth-century foundling voyages in which chains of orphans, vaccinated one by one, were sent to colonies around the globe, to the development of polio vaccines and the stockpiling of smallpox as a biological weapon in the Cold War, world-renown immunologist John Rhodes charts our fight against these plagues, and shows how vaccinations gave humanity the upper hand. Today, aid groups including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization have made the eradication of polio a priority, and Rhodes takes us behind the scenes to witness the hard-fought battles of scientist, philanthropists, volunteers, and more, and how soon we may be celebrating the eradication of a second infectious disease, polio"--Provided by publisher.

xii, 235 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : black and white illustrations ; 25 cm

The end of plagues : the global battle against infectious disease / John Rhodes.

Investigates the changing entomological, parasitological, and medical understandings of vectors, parasites, and malarial disease that have shaped programs of malaria control and althered transmission of infections.

xxi, 219 pages : black and white illustrations ; 24 cm

The long struggle against malaria in tropical Africa / James L.A. Webb, Jr., Colby College.

Flows, migrations, and exchanges

The end of a global pox : America and the eradication of smallpox in the Cold War era / Bob H. Reinhardt.

"Health of Empire is a transnational history of public health and intellectual thought following the U.S. imperial expansion of 1898. José Amador shows that physicians and intellectuals in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil, and not just itinerant American health officials, defined the political and cultural terms of public health campaigns"-- Provided by publisher.

Medicine and nation building in the Americas, 1890-1940 / José Amador.

According to its Constitution, the mission of the World Health Organization (WHO) was nothing less than the 'attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health' without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic status, or social condition. But how consistently and how well has the WHO pursued this mission since 1946? This comprehensive and engaging new history explores these questions by looking at its origins and its institutional antecedents, while also considering its contemporary and future roles. It examines how the WHO was shaped by the particular environments of the postwar period and the Cold War, the relative influence of the US and other approaches to healthcare, and its place alongside sometimes competing international bodies such as UNICEF, the World Bank, and the Gates Foundation. The authors re-evaluate the relative success and failure of critical WHO campaigns, from early malaria and smallpox eradication programs to struggles with Ebola today.

Global health histories (Series)

Global health histories

xvi, 373 pages : black and white illustrations ; 24 cm.

Wellcome uses cookies.

Disease Eradication - history

Catalogue

The end of plagues : the global battle against infectious disease / John Rhodes.

The long struggle against malaria in tropical Africa / James L.A. Webb, Jr., Colby College.

The end of a global pox : America and the eradication of smallpox in the Cold War era / Bob H. Reinhardt.

Medicine and nation building in the Americas, 1890-1940 / José Amador.

The World Health Organization : a history / Marcos Cueto, Theodore M. Brown, Elizabeth Fee.

Today’s opening times

Wellcome uses cookies.

Disease Eradication - history

Catalogue

The end of plagues : the global battle against infectious disease / John Rhodes.

The long struggle against malaria in tropical Africa / James L.A. Webb, Jr., Colby College.

The end of a global pox : America and the eradication of smallpox in the Cold War era / Bob H. Reinhardt.

Medicine and nation building in the Americas, 1890-1940 / José Amador.

The World Health Organization : a history / Marcos Cueto, Theodore M. Brown, Elizabeth Fee.

Wellcome Collection

Today’s opening times