Eradication: Ridding the world of diseases forever?

摘要

The title of Nancy Stepan's book on disease eradication signals a question that, she shows, public health professionals have been debating throughout the twentieth century. Describing this work as a 'biography of a concept' (p. 15), Stepan sets out to trace the history of the idea of disease eradication, as it hardened in its absolutist aims, produced much failure and one success, and lives on in our present day. The life of Dr Fred Lowe Soper (1893-1977), an ardent and early proponent of disease eradication, serves as a frame throughout the book through which to trace the development and pursuit of this public health objective. Stepan's book succeeds finely in its goal of providing a synthetic narrative of disease eradication and offers a valuable resource for historians as well as public health professionals. For those already familiar with international health history, this book offers a broader perspective on different health campaigns that have often been analysed only in isolation and provides a clear review of existing literature with a rich bibliography.