Disease Eradication and Elimination Programs

Disease is a serious problem in impoverished populations. Even as medical technology has improved by leaps and bounds, access to that technology is limited for the lowest income quintile, and those in extreme poverty may have exceptional difficulty taking advantage of modern medical advances. An estimated 1.2 billion people live in extreme poverty (less than $1.25 per day). Even low-cost consultations and drugs that are nearly free in the developed world—even a basic, patent-free, commonplace antibiotic like penicillin, or acetaminophen for controlling a fever—may be priced out of reach; and in remote rural communities, travel expenses or travel time in order to reach such medical facilities may also be infeasible. Further, mismanagement and inefficiency in the developing world can lead to problems deploying medical solutions ...