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Abstract

In Rotary’s ad campaign a few years ago, people from Desmond Tutu to Jackie Chan were showing with their hands how close to the end of polio we are. There was even a Gangnam Style version of the ad. The message was that the end is in sight, we are very close and need just one last push to end the disease targeted by a global eradication program. The ad looks great. You stop and look, perhaps even open your purse to contribute to the cause. But at the same time it is also terribly disturbing: what are these people showing us? What is, exactly, the end of polio? And what comes after? Upon closer inspection, these images open broader questions of how we think about epidemics, disease and ‘solving’ a public health problem.
The way we tend to think about diseases, especially in policy-making and in their representations, is within a narrative that comes from epidemics. We talk about an “epidemic” of obesity, of cancer, and further health concerns “plague” our society. Therefore, while various diseases bring up a wide range of different problems to consider, it is important to give epidemics and their narratives a closer look. Using the case of polio eradication in Hungary, I interrogate the ending of an epidemic and place the ‘after’ into the center of analysis. I argue that with this analytical shift, we can gain a more nuanced understanding of what epidemics are, the how we might study them and who and what gets left out of the master narrative of beginning, crisis and end. A focus on endings also highlights the narrative’s shortcomings and the stakes at hand, as epidemic narratives shape global and local health policies.

Forthcoming events

mRNA vaccines and paediatric RSV

Monday, 11 November 2024, 1pm to 2pm @ BDI/OxPop Building LG seminar room

Festival of Global Health - Human Forever

Wednesday, 13 November 2024, 4pm to 8pm @ Curzon Oxford, Westgate Shopping Centre, Oxford OX1 1NZ

Fake vaccines: The problem - and finding solutions

Monday, 18 November 2024, 1pm to 2pm @ BDI/OxPop Building LG seminar rooms

The potential of vaccination to prevent congenital CMV

Monday, 25 November 2024, 1pm to 2pm @ BDI/OxPop Building LG seminar rooms

Cross-species MAIT cell immune responses

Monday, 02 December 2024, 1pm to 2pm @ BDI/OxPop Building LG seminar rooms

The ecology and evolution of microbial communities

Monday, 13 January 2025, 1pm to 2pm @ BDI/OxPop Building LG seminar rooms