I had no idea of the lengths that the WHO and other entities went through to eradicate smallpox. For example, I, though an ignorant assumption of course, always chalked the eradication of smallpox up to a vaccine being given to people without much resistance. I had no clue that there was so much force involved in distributing the vaccine. I wonder if we will face a similar situation in regards to the Covid-19 vaccine. In the short time that COVID-19 has been prevalent, we have already seen a monumental divide between those in support of the greater good, and those in support of individual rights. Whether that divide is on the topic of masks, vaccinations, social distancing, or shutting down businesses, there is a very prominent difference between the values held by citizens of not only America, but the world as a whole. This substantial divide leads to massive discrepancies in death rates through countries and regions. For example, in Belgium, the death rate for COVID-19 is 1,292.14 per one million. On the other end of the spectrum, the death rate for COVID-19 in Ecuador is 749.7 per one million (Best. R, 2020.) The reasons for these differentiations may vary tremendously from region to region, but one fact remains the same: something must be done.
The Smallpox eradication efforts were carried out in controversial ways. Force, coercion, and other forms of abuse of power were continuously utilized during the efforts to eradicate smallpox, even going as far as to break down padlocked doors and drag people from their homes. For many individuals, this was a gross misuse of power, and represents a negligent part of humanity. Though I am perhaps unusual in my opinion, I think that in the case of diseases like smallpox, with a mortality rate of 30%, the actions of the teams attempting to eradicate smallpox were justified. Diseases like smallpox have such a tremendous effect on society, both socially and economically. Over the years, millions of dollars have been spent surrounding Smallpox, and an estimated 300-500 million people died of the disease (Smallpox, 2014.). Though individual rights are important, in my eyes, they never outweigh the rights of the majority. Regardless of religious, personal, or philosophical beliefs, with a death rate that high, everyone who is medically able should be legally required to get a vaccine, and if they don’t do it voluntarily, then it makes sense that force would need to be used. However, I think that the same needs to apply across the globe, not just in areas traditionally used as experiment sites. Every human being deserves to be treated the same. As the article mentions, the same must be done for individuals in Buffalo or Birmingham as those in India or Bangladesh. A country’s economic development should not dictate the value of its citizens. If everyone in Bangladesh is forced to have the vaccine, everyone in Birmingham needa it too. Millions of people could still be alive today if they had been protected by heard immunity, and millions more in the future as well. We must vaccinate ourselves to protect those who cannot.
In some of the scenarios described in the text. I would argue that human rights were violated. However, I suppose it would depend how each country defines human rights. In the first story we heard, regarding the starving woman, her human rights violation was simply traded- lose your bodily autonomy in turn for food. No one deserves to starve to death, just as no one deserves to die of smallpox. Just the same, however, everyone deserves the right to decide what happens to their body… in some countries. What may prove as a human rights violation in America could be common practice in another country. For example, prior to learning about Female Genital Cutting, I firmly believed it was a human rights violation. Though I still do not love the idea, I understand that in countries that practice it, it is commonplace and not a human rights violation at all. What I’m trying to say, is that the definition of a human rights violation differs drastically from region to region. In order to say definitively whether or not forcing vaccines on people is a violation of their human rights or not, there must be a universally accepted definition of what is and what is not a human right. In the culture I was raised in, bodily autonomy is absolutely a human right. As a child, my parents were able to say what medical care I received, what vaccines I got, and which doctors could care for me. Given that, in my opinion, certain aspects of the Smallpox campaign were violations of human rights (I.e breaking into homes and physically forcing vaccination.) However, I still believe that regardless of this, the greater good outweighs individual rights. I would rather violate one person’s rights than allow ten others to die because of their choice.
The efforts of EIS officers would have been drastically different had their goal been to control rather than eradicate Smallpox. For example, they likely would have been able to respect individuals choices to not get vaccinated based on religious reasons. By demanding a complete eradication of the disease, they were unable to provide any sympathy for those who did not want to be vaccinated. They wanted Smallpox gone, and they were willing to do practically anything to succeed on their mission. Though I personally believe that they handled things the way they had to be handled in order to save as many lives as possible, I know many people may disagree with me, and I understand why. Perhaps the EIS officers could have handled things differently and still had the same outcome. But the truth is, we will never really know. All we can be sure of is that due to the insistent and tiring efforts of health organizations, we have not seen a single case of Smallpox since 1976, and hopefully we never will again.
One of the main components that made the eradication of Smallpox possible was teamwork. Many health and government officials had to work together in order to reach their desired outcome (Smallpox eradication by December.) This proved to be very difficult for many professionals due to the sensitive nature of their work. Some professionals wanted to work on a classic contact tracing vaccination program, while others wanted to mass vaccinate everyone possible. This caused a lot of turmoil between professionals, and led to discrepancies in execution of vaccination. For example, some medical professionals were reporting vaccinating whole villages when they hadn’t even gone to them. I believe that a lot of this mistrust and miscommunication could have been prevented by providing professionals with training in communication, global affairs, and global health. I have seen a lot of the same behaviors nowadays between governments and medical professionals. It has really become a game of he said she said, and the punishment for stupidity is 1,340,000 dead bodies.
Overall, I believe that when something is as deadly as Smallpox, every effort needs to be taken to rid the world of it, even if it comes at the cost of individual rights. I suppose this is a reflection of my own political views, which of course, is a reflection of the world I grew up in. We all come from different backgrounds, and value different things; but I personally hope and pray that in the end, we value life over rights. I don’t know that the same efforts should be taken for COVID19, since it has a much lower death rate, but I do think that other forms of individual rights might have to be taken away for the greater good. For example, I firmly believe that masks should be legally required in all public forums until things get back to normal. It’s the small things that make all the difference.
Double Sided 