Sustainable Development and Healthy Environments, World Health Organization, New Delhi, India.
Indian J Public Health. 2011 Apr-Jun;55(2):81-7. doi: 10.4103/0019-557X.85236.
During the past 60 years, a number of infectious diseases have been targeted for eradication or elimination, with mixed results. While smallpox is the only one successfully eradicated so far, campaigns on yaws and malaria brought about a dramatic reduction in the incidence in the beginning of the campaign but ultimately could not achieve the desired goal. There is again a renewed interest in disease eradication. The World Health assembly in May 2010 passed a resolution calling for eradication of measles by 2015; the target of polio eradication still remains elusive. In view of these developments, it is appropriate time to revisit the concept of disease eradication and elimination, the achievements and failures of past eradication programmes and reasons thereof, and possibly apply these lessons while planning for the future activities. This paper based on the Dr. A.L.Saha Memorial Oration describes various infectious diseases that have been targeted for eradication or elimination since 1950s, the potential direct and indirect benefits from disease eradication, and the issues and opportunities for the future.
在过去的 60 年中，已经针对许多传染病开展了根除或消除工作，取得的结果喜忧参半。虽然天花是迄今为止唯一被成功根除的疾病，但在雅司病和疟疾防治运动的初期，发病率确实出现了大幅下降，但最终未能实现预期目标。现在人们再次对疾病根除产生了浓厚的兴趣。2010 年 5 月的世界卫生大会通过了一项决议，呼吁到 2015 年消灭麻疹；消灭脊髓灰质炎的目标仍然难以实现。鉴于这些新进展，现在正是重新审视根除和消除疾病这一概念、回顾过去根除计划的成败及其原因，并在为未来活动做规划时吸取这些经验教训的恰当时机。本文是基于 A.L.Saha 博士纪念演讲撰写的，描述了自 20 世纪 50 年代以来针对根除或消除的各种传染病、从疾病根除中获得的直接和间接潜在收益，以及未来的问题和机遇。
