Polio Eradication and Its Discontents

By William Muraskin,

Book cover of Polio Eradication and Its Discontents: A Historian's Journey Through an International Public Health (UN) Civil War

Book description

There are many infectious diseases which kill millions of children every year the world over, but polio is not one of them. So why did the World Health Assembly in 1988 choose the eradication of polio as a global goal? This is the key question that William Muraskin asks and…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Polio Eradication and Its Discontents as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

For Bill Gates, there is no bigger philanthropic goal than eradicating polio, the focus of historian William Muraskin’s book. The author puts a critical lens on the polio eradication campaign not because he is a critic of vaccines but because he’s a critic of colonialism. Why do powerful Western actors—like Bill Gates—get to decide the public health priorities of poor nations? 

And who, really, is the primary beneficiary of the Gates Foundation? The answer I came up with when writing my book is Bill Gates. Between the political influence, public applause, reputational enhancements, and tax benefits, Gates himself is the…

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