House on fire

the fight to eradicate smallpox

218 pages

English language

Published Nov. 24, 2011 by University of California Press, Milbank Memorial Fund.

ISBN:
978-0-520-26836-4
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OCLC Number:
667592570

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"A story of courage and risk-taking, House on Fire tells how smallpox, a disease that killed, blinded, and scarred millions over centuries of human history, was completely eradicated in a spectacular triumph of medicine and public health. Part autobiography, part mystery, the story is told by a man who was one of the architects of a radical vaccination scheme that became a key strategy in ending the horrible disease when it was finally contained in India. In House on Fire, William H. Foege describes his own experiences in public health and details the remarkable program that involved people from countries around the world in pursuit of a single objective: eliminating smallpox forever. Rich with the details of everyday life, as well as a few adventures, House on Fire gives an intimate sense of what it is like to work on the ground in some of the world's most impoverished countries …

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Subjects

  • Physicians
  • Autobiography
  • International Cooperation
  • Epidemiology
  • Biography
  • Public health personnel
  • History
  • Smallpox
  • History, 20th Century

Places

  • Africa
  • India