On 8 May 2020, WHO celebrated the 40th anniversary of the eradication of smallpox. A smallpox commemorative postal stamp developed by the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA), in collaboration with WHO, was also unveiled on this occasion.
- The stamp serves to honour the millions of people working together, from world leaders and international organizations to rural doctors and community health workers to eradicate smallpox.
- It is the first and only human disease eradicated on a global scale through the collaboration of countries worldwide.
- Smallpox is the first and only disease to be permanently eradicated worldwide. Until it was wiped out, smallpox had plagued humanity for at least 3 000 years, killing 300 million people in the 20th century alone, that is 4 million people annually.
- In 1967, WHO launched the 10‐year Intensified Smallpox Eradication Programme to concentrate on endemic countries.
- On 9 December 1979, the members of the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication signed their names to the statement that “smallpox has been eradicated from the world.”
- At the 33rd World Health Assembly, 8 May 1980, smallpox was officially endorsed as eradicated.
Source: WHO
