Smallpox eradication and Brazil: an interview with Donald A. Henderson / A erradicação da varíola e o Brasil: uma entrevista com Donald A. Henderson

ABSTRACT

Interview with Donald A. Henderson, the U.S. physician and epidemiologist who headed the World Health Organization's Smallpox Eradication Program from 1966 to 1977. The interviewer talks about the endemic nature of smallpox in Brazil; relations between WHO, the Pan American Health Organization, and the Brazilian government; the role of Connaught Laboratories in the quality of the Brazilian smallpox vaccine; the process that brought certification of smallpox eradication in Brazil; international cooperation in eradicating smallpox and the various strategies applied; the role played by Brazilians in eradicating smallpox in India, Bangladesh, and Africa; and the future of the notion of disease eradication.