The lack of information about the virus and the consequences of vaccination and the underdevelopment of the medical field are, in my opinion, one of the few aspects that prevented the initiation of the global project. Moreover, it took several centuries to eradicate smallpox due to a lack of funds and donations, staff to develop the plan, and a lack of commitment from some countries (“History of smallpox,” 2021). Anyway, due to the discoveries of Edward Jenner and the implementation and dissemination of the enhanced plan by WHO, it was possible to eliminate smallpox and achieve notable successes in the field of health.
Yes, I agree with the statement because of the following reasons. Firstly, smallpox was a severe disease that significantly reduced the population (Ochmann & Ritchie, 2018). Thus, due to the efforts of scientists, it was possible to save humanity and prevent the spread of the terrible virus. Secondly, developing an effective vaccine became a breakthrough in medicine and the scientific community (Ochmann & Ritchie, 2018). It was a worldwide discovery and the most important invention.
Indeed, humanity would be able to prevent the spread of smallpox. I think this would happen due to innovative technologies, current progress, and the globalization of society. Nonetheless, today, such barriers could prevent the disease from being cured as a high proportion of people with weakened immunity and the wide spread of infectious diseases due to the development of intercontinental air travel (Meyer et al., 2020). In addition, in my opinion, today, there are also such phenomena as the spread of misinformation and stigmatization via the Internet, which prevent individuals from getting vaccinated in order to recover as soon as possible.
References
History of smallpox. (2021). CDC. Web.
Meyer, H., Ehmann, R., & Smith, G. L. (2020). Smallpox in the post-eradication era.Viruses, 12(2), 138. Web.
Ochmann, S., & Ritchie, H. (2018). Smallpox is the only human disease to be eradicated – Here’s how the world achieved it. Our World in Data. Web.