REMARKS
FOR THE
SMALLPOX ERADICATION CELEBRATION

BY
C, EVERETT KOOP, M.D,
SURGEON GENERAL
OF THE
U. S, PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

PRESENTED TO THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL
ATLANTA, GEORGIA
OCTOBER 29, 1987

174
THANK YOU DR, MASON, IT IS A PLEASURE TO BE HERE TODAY 10
CELEBRATE THIS MILESTONE IN PUBLIC HEALTH, THE ELIMINATION OF A
DISEASE FOR WHICH THERE WAS NO CURE. A DISEASE THAT HAD KILLED
MORE PEOPLE THAN ALL THE WARS IN HISTORY. THE WORLD HEALTH
ORGANIZATION CAMPAIGN PROBABLY WAS THE MOST AMBITIOUS UNDERTAKING
IN THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE,

LETTER TO HALFDAN T, MAHLER, M.D.. DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD
HEALTH ORGANIZATION, 1211 GENEVA 27, SWITZERLAND FROM PRESIDENT
RONALD REAGAN, DATED OCTOBER 26, 1987,

QUOTE. “DEAR DR. MAHLER:

ON BEHALF OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, I AM PROUD TO
TAKE THIS OCCASION TO MARK THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WORLD
HEALTH ORGANIZATION’S SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM TO ERADICATE SMALLPOX,
AND TO CONGRATULATE YOU ON YOUR LEADERSHIP IN THAT EFFORT,
SMALLPOX WAS ONCE CONSIDERED TO BE “TOO INSIDIOUS TO
ERADICATE.” ITS ELIMINATION IS AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF WHAT
CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY MANKIND WHEN NATIONS WORK TOGETHER TOWARD
A COMMON GOAL. I AM PARTICULARLY PROUD OF THE ROLE THE UNITED
STATES PLAYED IN THIS FIGHT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TH WORLD HEALTH
ORGANIZATION AND OTHER NATIONS, THE SUCCESS OF THE ERADICATION
CAMPAIGN SERVES TO REMIND US ALL THAT INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
TS INVALUABLE FOR BATTLING AND SOLVING COMMON PROBLEMS,

THOMAS JEFFERSON SAID, “FUTURE GENERATIONS WILL KNOW ONLY BY
HISTORY ALONE THAT THE LOATHSOME SMALLPOX HAS EXISTED.” THE
TRUTH OF HIS PREDICTION STRENGTHENS OUR CONVICTION TODAY, AS WE
CONFRONT THE NEW GLOBAL PANDEMIC OF AIDS, THAT THIS DISEASE TOO
WILL BE RELEGATED TO THE DUSTHEAP OF HISTORY.
DR. MAHLER, PLEASE ACCEPT MY HEARTFELT GRATITUDE FOR THE
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION’S REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENT, WHICH HAS
SAVED COUNTLESS LIVES FROM THE RAVAGES OF THIS DREADFUL DISEASE.

SIGNED SINCERELY, RONALD REAGAN.” UNQUOTE

IT 1S PROPERLY DESCRIBED AS HAVING HEROIC DIMENSIONS, IT
BEGAN WITH A SOVIET RESOLUTION AT THE WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY IN
1958 TO THE EFFECT THAT SMALLPOX COULD THEORETICALLY BE
ELIMINATED, THE FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE CDC. DAVID SENCER, SHARED
THIS BELIEF AND WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN MAKING IT HAPPEN,
IN 1964 THE FAMOUS JET GUN THAT WAS ONE OF THE KEY ELEMENTS
IN THE SUCCESS WAS TESTED BY THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL IN
WHAT COULD BE CALLED A DRESS REHEARSAL IN BRAZIL. AND IN 1966
THE CAMPAIGN BEGAN IN EARNEST,

I] SAID THE CAMPAIGN COULD PROPERLY BE DESCRIBED AS HEROIC,
IN 1966 SMALLPOX WAS RAGING THROUGH SOUTH AMERICA, ASIA, AND
AFRICA. TWO AND A HALF MILLION PEOPLE WERE REPORTED AS INFECTED
IN 30 COUTNRIES, A FIGURE ESTIMATED TO BE ABOUT ONE PERCENT OF
THE ACTUAL INCIDENCE, BUT HUNDREDS OF PUBLIC HEALTH
PRACTITIONERS--WHITE AND BLACK, ARAB AND JEW, RUSSIAN AND
AMERICAN--WORKED SIDE BY SIDE TO RID HUMANITY OF THE SCOURGE.
IN THE AFRICAN CAMPAIGN, IT IS ESTIMATED THEY WORKED WITH
ABOUT 4,000 LOCAL HEALTH WORKERS, AND, I MIGHT ADD, THE SMALLPOX
CAMPAIGN WOULD NOT HAVE WORKED WERE IT NOT A GRASSROOTS
CAMPAIGN, IT WAS ESSENTIAL THAT INDIGENOUS PUBLIC HEALTH WORKERS
BE INVOLVED IN THE CAMPAIGN IF IT WAS TO GAIN THE COOPERATION OF
LOCAL PEOPLE NECESSARY FOR SUCCESS.

THE EXPERTENCE GATHERED BY BOTH THE AMERICANS AND THEIR
OVERSEAS COLLEAGUES WAS INVALUABLE, FOR THE UNITED STATES, IT
EXTENDED OUR PUBLIC HEALTH NETWORK INTERNATIONALLY, PERMITTING US
TO HELP OUR FRIENDS OVERSEAS, AND FOR THOSE WHO WORKED SO HARD
WITH US, THE EXPERIENCE HELPED BUILD THE PUBLIC HEALTH
INFRASTRUCTURE NECESSARY TO PREVENT OTHER EPIDEMICS,
THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION’S EXPANDED PROGRAM ON
IMMUNIZATION IS AN OUTGROWTH OF THE EFFORT TO ERADICATE
SMALLPOX, THIS TOO HAS BEEN ENORMOUSLY SUCCESSFUL. WHEREAS, IN
THE EARLY 1970°S IMMUNIZATIONS WERE ALMOST UNHEARD OF IN MANY
PARTS OF THE WORLD, COVERAGE IS NOW AROUND 40 PERCENT. AN
ANCILLARY BENEFIT TO THE UNITED STATES FROM THESE PROGRAMS IS
THAT AS DISEASE RATES IN THE REST OF THE WORLD GO DOWN, THE RISK
OF IMPORTATION INTO THE UNITED STATES DECREASES,

MANY OF NOTABLE EVENTS ARE SCHEDULED FOR TODAY. ONE OF THE
HIGHLIGHTS IS DR. D. A. HENDERSON’S DELIVERY OF THE JOSEPH W,
MOUNTIN LECTURE. BACK IN 1977, D. A. WAS ON THE TELEVISION QUIZ
SHOW, “TO TELL THE TRUTH”, THE FOUR PANELISTS HAD TO GUESS WHO
OF THREE PEOPLE WAS THE REAL DONALD HENDERSON. WELL. THREE
PEOPLE GUESSED WRONG. BUT I ASSURE YOU, WE HAVE THE REAL MCCOY

FOR YOU TODAY.
IT 1S MY PLEASURE TO BE HERE AS SURGEON GENERAL TO PRESENT
309 AWARDS TO THOSE OF YOU WHO PARTICIPATED IN THIS MARVELOUS
ACHIEVEMENT. DR. DONALD MILLAR, WHO LED THE EARLY VACCINATION
AND JET INJECTOR STUDIES IN BRAZIL IN 1973 AND THEN DIRECTED THE
WHO/CDC EFFORT IN WEST AFRICA WILL ACCEPT THE REPRESENTATIVE
CAMPAIGN RIBBON ON BEHALF OF THE 110 MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSIONED
CORPS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE SMALLPOX CAMPAIGN. AND JANE
COOLEY, WHO HANDLED TRAVEL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS FOR THE CDC
TEAM, WILL ACCEPT THE REPRESENTATIVE SURGEON GENERAL’S
CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION ON BEHALF OF THE 199 CIVIL SERVANTS
WHO PARTICIPATED.
T WOULD LIKE ALL THE MEMBERS OF BOTH GROUPS WHOSE NAMES ARE
LISTED IN THE PROGRAM TO STAND UP AND BE RECOGNIZED. THOSE WHO
ARE HERE TODAY CAN PICK UP THEIR CERTIFICATES AND RIBBONS IN THE
LOBBY AFTER THE LECTURE. THOSE WHO ARE UNABLE TO BE WITH US
TODAY WILL RECEIVE THEM BY MAIL,

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR FINE WORK,