Smallpox Vaccination - A History of the World Health Organization

By 19 66, small pox was endemic in 31 countries. The number of estimated world wide cases had dropped from about 50 million to somewhere between ten and 15 million. But it was also clear that a voluntary vaccination programme wasn't going to be enough to eradicate smallpox. So the world health assembly backed a proposal for an intensified small pox eradication programme which would start on january first 19 67. With the last naturally occurring case being found an isolated december 30 first 19 76. Its goal was to eradicate smallPOX world wide within ten years.