 In 1974 I was involved in the Smallpox
Eradication Programme in Bangladesh. As smallpox is back in the news these are a
few pictures from that time.
Generally dress was informal. Many of the CDC
people were there because the alternative was to take part in the Vietnam war on
the losing side. The order of the day for these lieutenants in the Navy was pony
tails and sandals.
The country is very beautiful with
huge rivers and sailing ships making their way up and down them. Huge skies with
fantastic cloud formations. The monsoon was just finishing when we arrived.
We were based in Munshiganj a couple
of hours South of Dacca by jeep and boat. Everywhere in the villages were
biblical scenes of small animals, lambs and kids.
Smallpox zero was the aim. This was
the headquarters in Dacca from where all the WHO volunteers moved out into the
countryside.
Getting people involved could be a
problem. Women kept hidden and would often only allow a woman to vaccinate them.
In the early days Sarah helped a lot
with this work but later was promoted to radio operator and even had her own
jeep! Not bad for someone earning 30 Taka a day (about one pound sterling at
that time)
This girl was the first case that we
saw, by this time almost recovered. We spent much of our time differentiating
between different rashes, but on occasion this was impossible, especially from
chicken pox; also quite common.
Surveillance and containment were
the watchwords. My surveillance team was lead by Kartik (below). The team would
work their way through the area asking if anyone knew of cases of smallpox,
offering a reward for information which led to a case. Once found the area would
be sealed off and anyone within half a kilometre was vaccinated, together with
any close contacts over the past two weeks. The case was put under guard
day and night to prevent spread of the disease.
Here are more members of the team.
Samsuddin, my interpreter on the left with Sarah and one of the boat drivers.
This open boat with an outboard was our usual form of transport, though we also
used jeeps, bikes, our feet and on one memorable occasion horses to get around.
Samsuddin was from West Pakistan and
therefore felt insecure as Bangladesh had only recently separated from West
Pakistan and there was still some bad feeling between the countries.
Eventually the last wild case of Variola
major was conquered and we all left this beautiful country.
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