SEP report

Jointly sponsored by the World Health Organization, the U. S. Agency for International Development, and the National Communicable Disease Center.In May 1969, a Seminar on Smallpox Eradication and Measles Control was convened in Lagos, Nigeria, under the joint sponsorship of the World Health Organization and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Government of Nigeria served as host.At the time of the Conference, most of the countries of Western and Central Africa were concluding the intensive systematic vaccination phase of programmes which had begun in January 1967 as a coordinated regional effort with support from United States bilateral assistance and WHO. Over 80 million of the 120 million inhabitants had been vaccinated against smallpox and more than 15 million children had been vaccinated against measles . Smallpox cases were being reported by only four countries and, in these, the cases were few and the number was diminishing rapidly. Measles incidence had also declined sharply in many areas. The Seminar provided an opportunity to exchange experiences regarding the execution and development of the programme, to examine critically its strengths and weaknesses, and to determine the future course of the programme in order to make further progress.Participating in the Conference were 27 representatives and consultants from 17 Western and Central African countries; 49 technical advisers (USAID) from the National Communicable Disease Center staff, including those assigned to West and Central African countries, those from the Regional Office in Lagos, as well as the headquarters office in Atlanta, Georgia, USA ; World Health Organization staff and consultants ; and others from the Red Cross, UNICEF, and USAID.Papers presented at the Conference, appropriately edited for brevity and clarity, are included in this document.Part I. -- OPENING OF THE CONFERENCE -- -- INTRODUCTION -- The Global Status of Smallpox Eradication -- Development and Status of the Smallpox Eradication and Measles Control Programme in West Africa -- -- SMALLPOX -- Epidemiology of Smallpox in West and Central Africa -- Execution of the Smallpox Eradication-Measles Control Programme in Guinea -- Results of Investigation and Control Programme in Sierra Leone -- Use of House-to-House Surveys in Finding Smallpox Cases -- Persistance of Smallpox in Remote Unvaccinated Villages -- Smallpox Outbreak Associated with Exposure at a Funeral Ceremony: Yawei Chiefdom, Kailahun District, Sierra Leone -- Role of Migrant Groups in the Transmission of Smallpox -- A Study of Smallpox in the Tuaregs in Tahoua, Niger -- A Review of Variolation in West Africa -- The Role of Fetish Practices in Vaccination Campaigns -- -- Summary.1970652