“I remember walking through the streets of Asmara [Eritrea] with my mother as a small boy, and seeing posters about smallpox in the street in the early 1970s. That is also the first time I encountered WHO. Now, when I leave the office every evening, and when I come in, I see the smallpox memorial statue, and I remember the street in Asmara where I used to walk with my mother and have fresh memories of the smallpox eradication effort.”
“Today, with this plaque, we recognise the day – 9th December 1979 – when smallpox was confirmed to have been eradicated. Five months later, the 33rd World Health Assembly officially declared that ‘the world and its peoples have won freedom from smallpox.’ Today, smallpox is the only human disease ever eradicated, a testimony to what we can achieve when all nations work together.”
“When it comes to epidemic disease, we have a shared responsibility and a shared destiny.
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