The End of Polio: A Global Effort to End a Disease

by Sebastião Salgado, Siddharth Dube, Kofi Annan

An inspirational account of the global initiative to eliminate the scourge of polio offers one hundred stunning duotone photographs that capture the campaign in five polio endemic nations--Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Pakistan, Somalia, and Sudan.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction

160 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado Júnior was a Brazilian social documentary photographer and photojournalist.
He traveled in over 120 countries for his photographic projects. Most of these have appeared in numerous press publications and books. Touring exhibitions of his work have been presented throughout the world.
Salgado was a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. He was awarded the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund Grant in 1982, Foreign Honorary Membership of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992; and the Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal and Honorary Fellowship (HonFRPS) in 1993. He was a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts at the Institut de France since April 2016.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a Smithsonian article about Sebastiao Salgado and have since been interested in learning more about his work - I watched most of the documentary on his life and have requested a few of the books from his photography projects. This one, The End of Polio, was to first to come in at the library. I loved the pairing of photographs with short essays from workers in that area of the world, and truly learned a lot about the polio eradication effort. Having grown up in the U.S., polio has always felt like one of those diseases that just isn't a risk and I never really thought much more about it. It was fascinating to learn how recently polio has been eradicated in other areas of the world, and how, despite the goal of a confirmed polio-free globe in 2005, how we are still fighting it today (this last bit, of course, gleaned from the internet, as the book was published in 2002 when the efforts looked like they were on track). It's amazing to think about how big of an effort this was, and how little people know of it.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A handsome book, and the gentlest I've seen of his work. Follows the "cold chain" supply system developed in 1952 to convey vaccines from refrigeration through UN small planes to insulated boxes carried by motorcycle & on food through Africa and South Asia to be administered by trained volunteers, handing off to trained members of another clan when needed if people will only accept it from their own. Also illustrates life and coping skills of children crippled by polio, laughing usually and engaged in their world. Too bad the near-eradication slipped from our grasp in the decade since.

[Zoë · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent account of the efforts of WHO, UNICEF, Rotary and other international organizations to eradicate polio worldwide. Many participants contributed essays and the book is filled with the sublime black and white photos of Sebastiao Salgado. I highly recommend this!

[Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

"This book is dedicated to all those who courageously live with polio, as well as to all the health workers who so lovingly help them while working to eliminate the disease."