"PAHO at the Forefront of Immunization and Disease Elimination"
Immunization Newsbriefs (c) Copyright
Information Inc., Bethesda, MD. Brought to you by the National Network for
Immunization Information (NNii). Visit NNii's new website at
http://www.immunizationinfo.org.
"PAHO at the Forefront of Immunization and
Disease Elimination" American Journal of Public Health (www.ajph.org)
(12/02) Vol. 92, No. 12, P. 1886; Tarantola, Daniel
The Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO),
which was established in 1902 and hosts the Regional Office of the World Health
Organization, has led major immunization campaigns against smallpox, polio, and
measles. With the successful elimination of smallpox from the Americas by 1971,
PAHO set out to target six diseases: tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus,
pertussis, polio, and measles, with its
Expanded Program on Immunization. Polio has since been eradicated from the
Americas, and now the organization and
its partners are focusing on measles. The effort has already reduced cases of
measles in the Americas by 99 percent. Dr. Daniel Tarantola, International
Associate Editor of the American Journal
of Public Health, notes that "PAHO has not only a bright past in immunization
and disease elimination but a promising future" as well.
ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND
MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION
PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS
OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR
LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND
COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH
YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.
"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"