One of the few times the US military was on the right side of history.
One of the few times the US military was on the right side of history.
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It was only in 1965, after repeated lobbying from the U.S.S.R., after the MEP was clearly failing, and after the Johnson administration stressed the importance of addressing infectious diseases to clear the “breeding places” for communism that the WHO chose to adequately fund the Smallpox Eradication Program. Even then, the budget passed on the narrowest voting margin in WHO history after opposition from France and the U.S. on its price tag. The project cost 98 million dollars, and over 80% of the 2 billion vaccines required by the program were donated by the U.S.S.R., who alone had the vaccine manufacturing facilities to support the efforts. [21] The program very nearly didn’t happen at all;
I had no idea the ussr was 80% of all contributions to Smallpox eradication.
How many deaths would have occurred if Smallpox hadn't been eradicated?
Smallpox deaths averaged 400000 per year in XX century before its eradication. It was the second most deadly disease after the bubonic plague, and through history it claimed many times more lives in total than bubonic.
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