Health
Polio Eradication

Dr William Muraskin argues that polio became a public health priority at the expense of investment in primary health care

Burgess COMMENTARY
This video reminds me of the incredible brilliance of medical science and the incredible dysfunction of the medical sector more broadly.

The scientific progress has been remarkable, but money in medicine is creating distortions that are appalling. I am not against a profit driven society, but I am against a situation where profit is distorting everything and making doing the best impossible.

This piece raises some questions about polio eradication. Similar issues exist in the malaria health space.

I get annoyed when drugs cost a lot because the business firms have to satisfy investors, yet at the same time there is an expectation that poor people should volunteer to do work in health in poor communities. This has been common in health initiatives supported by the international official development assistance community ... and I think it is wrong.
Peter Burgess

Polio eradication: an unhappy history?

Dr William Muraskin, author of Polio and Its Discontents, argues that polio became a public health priority at the expense of investment in primary health care and routine immunisation. Discussing his provocative new book, Muraskin argues that a small number of public health advocates hijacked the global health system in pursuit of eradication

Sanjoy Bhattacharya shared a link via The Centre for Global Health Histories. Thursday

We are delighted to be able to share a video of Professor William Muraskin discussing polio eradication and his latest book on the subject ‘Polio Eradication and Its Discontents’. In this absorbing interview, Professor Muraskin ponders questions such as how did polio eradication become a global health priority, and why is eradication so attractive to politicians and philanthropists? The interview was filmed by 'Vaccines Today'.

‘Polio Eradication and Its Discontents’ is part of the New Perspectives in South Asian History series which we highlighted on this Facebook page yesterday. Further details on this series, Muraskin's book, and other volumes, are available at http://www.york.ac.uk/history/publications/new-perspectives-in-south-asian-history/