Interview Transcript
West African Smallpox Eradication Project
Lessons Learned and Recollections
Eidelman, Dawn (Dede Agle)
Child of Participant spanning 40yrs. He will
be moving to Santa Fe this summer and wasn't able to make the reunion.
I once asked my Dad what was your favorite time of your life, when
you look at all your experiences, and places you lived, and without
skipping a beat he said when we were in West Africa, he liked going
out to the villages and being hands on.
Six years ago I went back to Dakar,Senegal and brought my son (Kent
age 9 at the time), and my brother Steven said it won't be the same
and be careful. I also brought my boyfriend, now husband Dave and
felt to really know me is to know where I came from. He fell in love
with Dakar as did my son.Once again I fell in love with the people and
found myself buying a beautiful mask and I could still speak wooluf
and was able to bargain just like my Dad would do. The experience of
Africa will forever enrich my life and am so glad I was a part of the
bigger picture.
I'm a Directer of Fine Art for Tilting at Windmills Gallery in
Manchester,Vermont. I buy sculpture out of Africa where I buy them land
and will be opening my own gallery where I will be bringing other cultures
of art from around the w
Henderson, Rafe
Some of my recollections of life in West Africa from Kindergarten
through
orld and be able to send money back to help. I'm so glad my Mom,
Romona Helmholz will be able to come, she is very excited and looks
forward to catching up with old friends.Thank-you again for putting
this together!!!
Grade 3:
- I started kindergarten at L'Ecole de la Marine in Lome, Togo during
the Smallpox program. I was the only white kid in the class; I didn't
understand a word of French; and one of my first associations was how
smart the African students were, and how far I had to go to catch up.
- This early core understanding plays prominently today in my work to
revitalize public education (especially for those living in poverty)
by holding high expectations for all students and providing them with
the education that the most privileged child in the country enjoys.
- Growing up in Togo and Nigeria was a joyful experience. I loved our
menagerie of Bushbabies, Potto, Red Diker Deer, baby Python, and
Senegalese Parrot ("Bud" ate cigarette butts and swore in French; he
lived to a ripe old age back in the U.S.).
- I remember when our family endured a Rabies series when the mouse
intended for the python got loose, bit the Potto (an endearing pet who
plucked out Dad's chest hairs and ate Mom's birth control pills, and
who perished mercilessly from Rabies - but not before biting my mom.)
Dr. Hen was great about cleaning out the syringes so that Dave and I
could use them for water fights.
- I remember countless Beatles songs; the 100 hit countdown for 1968;
"Blood, Sweat and Tears;" and the Beachboys on reel-to-reel tapes.
Having a limited collection led to a deep familiarity with the lyrics
- every verse for every tune.
- I treasured my chess games with Dad, speaking French with him, and
enjoying his waffles every Sunday morning as a sweet reprieve from
having to endure the weekly "Aralen" dose. Perhaps I managed to avoid
swallowing a few of the Aralen bitter pills. I still remember the
raging fever from my bout with Malaria.
- I remember that our first house in Lome became home to "Togo a Gogo"
boutique on the first floor, and to our Calvert schoolhouse on the
second floor during my second grade year. I am now writing distance
learning curriculum to reach children of American expats around the
world.
- When we moved to Kaduna, Nigeria, Dave and I attended Sacred Heart.
I was in tears when Dad picked me up from school the first day, at
which point I lamented to him that the Brits had "taken our language
and ruined it!" I miss my dad's explosive laughter when he was
unexpectedly amused.
- I remember many of you - especially those of you who had children
with whom Dave and I played for countless hours with no TV, video
games or detractors from the expansive imagination of childhood.
- I look forward to seeing you this summer in Atlanta, which is once
again home to my family. I moved here in 1983 after I graduated from
college to spend time with Dad. I ended up meeting my husband,
attending grad school at Emory, and having 3 sons, the eldest of whom
will attend Emory as a freshman this fall.
Foege, Bill
Participant
1. Leverage - The greater return on investment in low-resource high-
disease situations.
2. Problem solving as the great need in global health.
3. Globalization as a key to both understanding and solving disease
problems.
Foster, Stan
Participant
We learned from our mistakes
Operations officers was a new concept which has stood the test of time
Evidenced based decision based on surveillance and monitoring made the
impossible possible
Work not going for the credit brought success
Friedman, Jay
Participant
1. The smallpox eradication program proved that with a tightly
organized and well managed and financed large-scale program, a disease
with the right epidemiological characteristics could be eradicated.
2. The smallpox eradication program was fortunate in having leaders
who, in spite of being medical epidemiologists, realized right from
the start that once the characteristics and epidemiology of smallpox
were understood, the major problems to be overcome were related to
administration, management and logistics and not to epidemiology and
virology.
3. The second great stoke of leadership was that once it was realized
by those at the top in 1968 or so that surveillance-containment with
bifurcated needles, rather than mass vaccination with jet guns, was
the superior strategy, like good generals the decision to make this
important change, which ultimately led to success, was quickly done
without a backward thought.
Goetl, Carol
Participant
Taught me the difference between earning a living and making a
contribution.
Introduced the notion of social justice which helped form my political
perspective.
Demonstrated that good leaders and good followers are both needed to
bring about positive change.
Griggs, Bill
Participant
1) When married individual is being considered for overseas
asssignment, spouse should be involved during interview process.
2) concept of role of assignee being a "facilitator" rather than a
"cordinator" ,while suttle , making things happen rather than
directing others, is important.
3)While it may seem earier to do a job yourself, rather than training
your counterpart, it is essential for any lasting benefit to make sure
that activities can and will be carried out appropriately in absence
of outside advisors.
4)The documented shortfall, repeatedly in most developing countries
is/was an adequate information system to assess needs and progress
toward meeting these needs as well as recognition of value of
operatrionally oriented workers trained to think in terms of
identifying long and short term work objectivesand need to make
systematic progress toward their achievement.
Helmholz -Adams, Lisa
Child of participant
Dakar, Senegal, I will always call home!! My brothers (Steven, Karl)
and I had the greatest time of our lives growing up in West Africa. I
miss the diverse cultures and most of all the people. From the age of
3 to 13yrs.we were in Africa and in between in Davis,CA, and Atlanta
,GA, where my Dad worked for C.D.C. I was lucky enough to go with my
Dad. Some of my fondest memories en brusse, which was to go to the
villages where they would give the smallpox vaccination, and I would
tell the boys and girls not to be afraid and, they always liked
touching my hair, or pulling it, and then I would touch their hair and
we would form some kind of bond.
My Dad (Bob Helmholz) was a huge collector of African Art and after work
the Africans would come with their masks from different parts of West
Africa, and each one he would inventory, and to this day he has collected
art from Egypt, India, Japan where ever he would be stationed and I can't
begin to imagine how many he has to date .He said that when he retires he
would like his pieces to go in a museum where people would enjoy his
collections
Henderson, Rafe Participant
- Colleagues serving in the West Africa program have continued to
play critical roles, with strong CDC support, in directing and
managing major international health initiatives including the global
eradication of smallpox, the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI),
the control of diarrheal and respiratory diseases and the eradication
of polio.
- The 30-cluster survey technique adapted for use in West Africa
later became the central monitoring tool of the EPI and has been
widely adapted and used to monitor other international public health
programs.
- The West African experience changed my career path and has led to a
life-time of work in international public health.
Hendrix, Faye
Participant
Most important - selection of an outstanding group of people
Excitement of being part of a program with a mission never before
accomplished
Administrative challenges - i.e. working with USAID regs to obtain
clearances, arrange overseas assignments, deal with constant payroll
and other problems (without email and instant computer messages)
Hicks, Jim
Participant
I was privileged to actively participate in the eradication of
Smallpox.
How fortunate I was to work with a special group of gifted people who
believed in our mission, who cared about each other and honestly cared
about the health and lives of millions of people each would never
know.
The opportunity broadened my concept of service to others and enhanced
my ability to contribute to the management of other public health
programs.
Hogan, Bob
Participant
The central importance of management issues in applying known
technologies;
The richness and glory of African cultures and peoples:
The value of having a team based on respect and affection, dedicated
to achieving health rather than political goals .
Hutchins, Deane Participant
The smallpox program was the most professional accomplishment of my
medical career.
Living in West Africa for four years provided an experience for my
family and myself which could not be reproduced otherwise.
The experience of the smallpox program was instrumental in getting me
interested in working overseas with the Department of State for the
next 16 years.
Imperato, Pat
Participant
-influenced me to choose a professional career in public health and
preventive medicine.
- enabled me to practice tropical medicine in Africa for which I had
been trained in an MPH&TM degree program at Tulane University School
of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.
-introduced me to the peoples and cultures of Mali which have since
been a focus of research and study for me for many years.
Jones, Warren
Participant
Was a model for foreign aid wherein costs, failures, and sucesses were
shared and field management was a collaborative effort.
Was a practical public health teaching tool for foreign nationals at
the ground level. For example, the program demonstrated the value of
reliable disease surveillance data in making program decisions and
corrections.
Was a positive way to bridge cultural differences and
misunderstandings and to highlight commonalities.
Lane, Mike Participant
1) Administrative incompetence was almost as important in allowing
smallpox to continue than the problems of keeping vaccine in tropical
climates.
2) The surveillance/containment method meant than we had to spend time
understanding the local culture and authority structure, since tribal
leaders usually knew more about the distribution of smallpox than
medical authorities.
3) When things go right, and the trend lines are in the right
direction, public health is really fun!
Masso, Tony
Participant
I experienced first hand a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a
real difference to globally eradicate a vicious disease. It taught me
that I can do almost anything that is challenging by not accepting
defeat despite 31/2 years in Niger's Sahel under very adverse
conditions, all the while raising a family. It all serves me to this
day.
I learned that it is possible to motivate African health workers to
endure the heat, desert, sand storms, nomadic tribes, lousy roads, and
very low pay by sitting around a campfire at night and telling them
that we are all part of a large team in a multi-country effort in West
Africa to wipe
out this disease. And they listened and did it!
Of all my career pioneering stages, the Smallpox Program stands alone
in terms of pure pride. We did something that had never been done.
Not many can make that claim.
Millar, Don Participant
1. The West and Central African Smallpox Eradication/ Measles Control
Program (WCASE/MC Program) was a historically unprecedented acheivement
in Public Health, and I am very grateful to have been chosen to play a
role in it.
2. I learned that eradication of a disease requires at least two
things:
2.1 a disease that is "cooperative," i.e., its transmission is
interruptable with the readily available preventive
measures, and
2.2 a group of public health workers who are intelligent, creative
and agile enough to deal with the unexpected,
which is inevitable
3. When later confronted with more stubborn challenges, such as
sexually-transmitted diseases and work-related diseases and
injuries, I was always encouraged by the fact that smallpox
eradication was no "pushover" either ... but we did it,
nonethless!!
4. I came to deeply appreciate the importance of an understanding,
supportive boss (DJS) and willing, energetic subordinates and
co-workers..
5. From this experience I learned to "Trust God, and Love People"
(rather
than the reverse!).
Newberry, Dave
Participant
1) The real achievement of smallpox eradication was the result of
thousands of MOH (Ministry of Health) workers and community volunteers
who struggled to serve in the surveillance and immunization trenches.
2) The smallpox eradication and measles control program left little in
support of health infrastructure development. In the polio eradication
initiative we will leave a legacy of quantum leap laboratory
capability, superior advances in both surveillance and use of
epidemiologic data for programming and a huge country and intra-country
level collaboration potential.
3) The smallpox program elevated a remarkable cadre of third world
public health leaders who have made significant impact in and
contribution to international health.
Olson, Dennis
Participant
It was a very important learning experience in how different cultures
approach solving common problems;
I developed a strong interest in international health assignments
(later realized) and global issues in general.
I came to realize that I would never become a competent automobile
mechanic - nor care!!
Robbins, Gordon Participant
-- Established the value for CDC of a scientific/program management
model (consisting of medical epidemiologists complemented by public
health advisors) in carrying out diverse public health programs. This
model served CDC well for decades.
-- Dedicated, committed staff can overcome adverse variables such as
politics, religion, climate, terrain, poverty, etc. to achieve a
mutually beneficial goal.
-- Being part of a crusade to rid the world of a vicious, insidious
disease.
Roberto, Ron
Participant
Thanks for including me in the list of invitees to the gathering of the
"clan"-----the people who set out forty years ago to truly define what
disease eradication means and how to do it. Unfortunately, I won't be
able to come but my heart and soul will be with you all. While I left
CDC and the Smallpox Eradication Program in 1967 without ever having
set foot in West Africa, I feel a strong kinship with the initial West
Africa group, and before that, with D.A. Henderson's small but yeasty
''starter'' unit. The list of names in the ''To:' section of your e-
mails brings back fond memories of relationships made with many of the
1966 group. I have never since had the pleasure of working with more
dedicated and resourceful people. They were deadly serious about their
mission, but they knew when it was time to hang loose too. I'm
fortunate and proud to have been even a small part of the program.
Come the July gathering , reflect on the meaning and importance of your
accomplishments in West Africa. Puff out your chests in pride and
inspire the coming generations to take on the ever emerging public
health challenges of the future. My thanks to you and Ilze for
organizing and sheperding the reunion-----no small task with laggards
like me! With love to all of the West Africa crew.
Rosenbloom, Arlen
Participant
Provided an exceptional (for a pediatric endocrinologist) career-long
epidemiology/public health perspective pervading teaching, clinical
research, and clinical service program development;
-Continued international interests that have led to research,
education, and program development for students in international
settings;
-Enormous pride in being a part of the US Public Health Service,
especially through participating in a historic achievement, continued
in the rejuvenated Inactive Reserve Corps officer training and
deployment for disaster response.
Roy, Jean Participant
1. The pairing of public health advisors and epidemiologists for
country smallpox eradication operations was brilliant.
2. The West and Central Africa Smallpox Eradication Program was a
model of efficiency, achieving eradication ahead of schedule and below
budget.
3. From the Smallpox Eradication Program, to the "Expanded" Programme
on Immunizations, to CDC/PAHO's elimination of measles in the Americas,
to Global Polio Eradication, to measles elimination in Africa, and now
the current integration of malaria prevention into vaccination programs
are all from the original Smallpox Eradication DNA genetic code - may
our descendants continue to carry these good genes.
4. Strong political will, good management, and the masses of ordinary
people with bifurcated needles eradicated smallpox, not the medical
community per se...... a lesson for strivers of the MDGs!
(MDGs=Millineal Development Goals of the United Nations)
Thornton, Jim
Participant
I gained an appreciation of the magnitude of public health-that it
includes so many diseases and conditions and affects everyone in the
world.
The program proved that effective public health action, carefully
planned and executed, can change the world for the better.
I learned that if you are going to pick someone up from the airport,
the plane will actually arrive on the third day.
White, Bill
Participant
Established basis for active US collaboration with WHO
Provided CDC with a cadre of personnel with in-country experience
Raised issues and strategies to address international l supply and
"cold chain" logistics
Lessons Learned
December 31, 1970
Short statements of personal lessons learned by a variety of staff from CDC who participated in the West and Central Africa Smallpox Eradication Program.
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