Per whole generations, smallpox was much more than a disease: It was a brand tangible of the past, engraved in the meat, through the scars left by the vaccination. The memory of long files of children in dispensaries, of arms stretched to receive the vaccine, It remained impressed in the collective memory of the twentieth centurya symbol of an era crossed by great hopes, in which medicine seemed to promise health, safety and future. Also May 8, 1980however, it remained indelibly imprinted: this was the day when the world was definitively turned page.
Smallpox, May 8, 1980: the official end of a scourge
It was precisely on this date that, The 33rd World Health Assemblythe decision -making organ of WHO, the World Health Organization, officially declared the smallpox eradicate. It was the crowning of one of the most ambitious and successful health campaigns in the history of humanity: a global project, which lasted more than two decades, which united hundreds of countries and thousands of health workers in a collective effort.
A millennial disease
The smallpox, caused by the Variola Major virus, It has been known since ancient times. Testimonies of similar cases date back to the Egypt of the pharaohs, and the disease has afflicted peoples of every continent. Extremely contagious and often lethal, smallpox was transmitted by air or through direct contactcausing high fever, rashes and, in the most serious cases, death. Those who survived remained often marked in the body and sight: deep scars, blindness and disability were the most common consequences. In the twentieth century alone, smallpox caused the death of over 300 million people around the worldan impressive number that rival the losses of great wars.
On May 8, 1980, the WHO officially declared the eradication of smallpox. An extraordinary milestone for medicine (Getty Images)
The revolution of the smallpox vaccine
The turning point came at the end of the eighteenth centurywhen Edward Jenner, British doctor, developed the first effective vaccine against smallpox. Using the cattle virus, Jenner managed to induce a form of immunity in the human bodythus inaugurating the science of modern vaccination. The principle was simple but brilliant: Expose the body to an attenuated or similar version of the virus to prepare it to defend itself from the lethal one.
The WHO global campaign
Although the vaccinations were already practiced in industrialized countries, It was only in 1967 that the WHO started a real world campaign of smallpox eradication. The program, directed by scientists such as Donald Henderson, not only included mass vaccinationbut also “surveillance and containment” strategies: quickly identify the outbreaks, isolate cases, vaccinate the nearby communities. With a mix of scientific penalty, international collaboration and capillary logistics, The operation managed in less than two decades to eliminate smallpox from every corner of the globe. The latest natural case was recorded in Somalia in 1977.
A model for the future
The eradication of smallpox It is the only case in history in which an infectious disease has been completely eradicated on a global scale. For the WHO and for the whole medical community, it remains an extraordinary example of what international cooperation can get when it focuses public health. In recent times, This result was evoked as a model in the fight against other epidemicsfrom Ebola to Covid-19, and as a reminder of the importance of prevention, vaccination and strong health systems.
A memory not to be missed
Today, while most people under 40 has never known smallpoxit is essential to continue telling its story. Not only to pay homage to those who fought on the front line against the disease, but also to remember that science, When supported by the political will and global solidarity, can change the fate of humanity.
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