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Possibly even more poignant at the moment than usual. Shows what can be done with cooperation and despite some criticism from "upon high" the WHO is very much needed now and in the future.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/25/health/polio-eradication-africa-who/index.html
Great news indeed. i remember watching a documentary about what Jimmy Carter was doing with a worm borne disease which they also managed to eradicate.
Inspiring rather than shrugging and saying there is nothing we can do as it is Africa where the poor will get disease.
Nice to see some positive news - shows how time, investment and international cooperation will pay off.
Bloody vaccines!!! We're being conned SHeeple
Inspiring rather than shrugging and saying there is nothing we can do as it is Africa where the poor will get disease.
The richer nations need to see these actions abroad as their own priority. Even if you don't have a single benevolent bone in your body eradicating disease overseas is for your own selfish wellbeing. Stuff that we don't think is our problem any more - typhoid, tuberculosis, measles and so on - we've left  them bubbling unchecked away in the gosh-forsaken corners of the world evolving away happily -  ready to come back in a lovely treatment / vaccine resistant form.
A great achievement predominately funded by the Gates Foundation, Rotary International, the US and the UK with significant contributions from Germany, Japan and Canada as well as Dubai.
Only Afghanistan and ****stan to go now. Even in those countries there are very few cases: 21 & 12 out of populations of 35m & 200m respectfully in 2018. There was progress in these two countries but conflict and a local anti-vaccine attitude because of that brought things pretty much to a halt - the Taliban claim it's a means of sterilising children for example.
It's forty years since smallpox was eradicated, probably mankind's greatest achievement. There's concern about Covid-19, smallpox killed 400,000 a year in Europe alone during the 18th century.
Very good news, and as mentioned a huge nod to the funders and programme leaders of this.
Fantastic news!
A great achievement predominately funded by the Gates Foundation, Rotary International, the US and the UK
shows how time, investment and international cooperation will pay off.
We have to be careful about how the praise is handed out in these cases.
Eradicating polio is of course a good thing, but it's been been eradicated from the developed world for years. The reason that huge swathes of Africa are so behind are because of western imperialism and colonisation that has held the continent back by 50+ years.
Africa is not the net recipient of "intentional cooperating", much the opposite. This should be explained as the developed word finally repaying it's huge moral and societal debt, not being medical super heroes without capes.
Sorry to go a bit Noam Chomsky.
It's a "good thing", but only repairs a fraction of the damage we've done to the continent. We, and the WHO as an organ of the developed world establishment, are still not the good guys.