Expunging Variola: The Control and Eradication of Smallpox in India, 1947-1977

Sanjoy Bhattacharya

Orient Blackswan, 2006 - Medical - 327 pages

As A Crucial Component Of The Global Smallpox Eradication Programme, Which Has Been Widely Hailed As One Of The Greatest Public Health Successes In The Twentieth Century, The Indian Experience Has Some Important Stories To Tell. Expunging Variola Reveals These As It Chronicles The Last Three Decades Of The Anti-Smallpox Campaigns In India.This Wide-Ranging Study, Based On Extensive Archival Research In India, Britain, Switzerland And The United States Of America, Assesses The Many Complexities In The Formulation And Implementation Of The Smallpox Eradication Programme In The Subcontinent. Rather Than Merely Cataloguing The Developments Of This Extremely Complex Exercise Within The World Health Organisation Headquarters In Geneva And The Indian Central Government In New Delhi, This Book Adopts A Much Broader Perspective: It Makes A Conscious Effort To Provide A Detailed View By Including The Accounts Of Who, Governmental And Nongovernmental Personnel On The Ground. In This Manner, Nuanced Descriptions Of Important And Often Controversial Situations Are Provided. Thus, Apart From Acknowledging The Influence Of National-, State- And District-Level Political, Economic And Social Structures In Continually Reshaping The Contours Of The Smallpox Campaigns, This Work Also Emphasises The Crucial Role Played By Field Workers In Implementing And Often Reinterpreting Health Strategies Proposed By Geneva And New Delhi.Original Not Only In Perspective But In Material, Based As It Is On A Wide Range Of Sources Which Have Never Been Exploited By Academics Before, Expunging Variola Breaks New Ground In The Historiography Of Smallpox Eradication In The Subcontinent. The Book Serves As A Companion Volume To Fractured States Which Covers The Period 1800-1947.

Contents

• Universalist claims selective upgrades The complexities of health policy reformulations in India 19471960: 12
• Asymmetrical designs Indian smallpox control and eradication policies 19411959: 45
• A troubled and uneven expansion The Indian national smallpox eradication programme 19601968: 105
• A torturous advance Reassessing the final phase of the Indian smallpox eradication programme 19691977: 163
• An integral component of the smallpox eradication programme Vaccine development and deployment 19601977: 252
• Epilogue: 281
• Glossary: 305
• Bibliography: 306
• Index: 317

Popular passages

Page 4 - The global eradication of smallpox: final report of the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication (Geneva, December 1979).‎

Page 308 - Annual Report of the Public Health Commissioner with the Government of India for that year, was estimated to be 14,86,45,389t.‎

Page 311 - General of Health Services, Ministry of Health, Family Planning, Works, Housing and Urban Development, New Delhi.‎

Page 4 - Report of a WHO Scientific Group. Geneva: WHO Technical Report Series No.‎

Page 308 - Fifty-fourth et seq., annual report of the Director of Public Health for the Government of Bombay for the year 1917, et seq.‎

Bibliographic information

• Title: Expunging Variola: The Control and Eradication of Smallpox in India, 1947-1977; Volume 14 of New perspectives in South Asian history
• Author: Sanjoy Bhattacharya
• Publisher: Orient Blackswan, 2006
• ISBN: 8125030182, 9788125030188
• Length: 327 pages
• Subjects: Medical / Pathology; Political Science / Public Policy / General; Science / Life Sciences / Microbiology