LONG before the Covid-19 pandemic, one of the largest mass vaccination drives conducted in the history of mankind was the inoculation of millions of children against polio in 1955.
According to Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, in the early 1940-1950s, polio disabled an average of 35,000 people a year in the United States with the majority being children. One of the most respected presidents, president Franklin. D. Roosevelt himself, suffered from polio infection and became disabled when he was 39 years old.
As a parent, you can imagine the fear for your child succumbing to polio. Then came Dr Jonas Salk, the virologist who developed the first successful polio vaccine which was made public in April 1955. Television personality, Edward R. Murrow, in a memorable interview asked Dr Salk: Who owned the patent to the polio vaccine? The doctor responded, “Well, the people, I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”
It was estimated the patent was worth US$7bil. Sure, there are conflicting accounts to the actual story but most people have recognised the altruism and contribution of Dr Salk in the fight against polio.
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