Chronicling the End of Polio

"Sebastião Salgado has very nearly seen it all. The Brazilian photographer has traveled to more than 100 countries to document the human consequences of war and famine, the plight of manual laborers and the struggle of dispossessed farmers. But even Salgado saw it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) approached him and proposed that he chronicle the lingering effects of polio in the 21st century and the global effort to eradicate the disease...."

"Accepting the UNICEF assignment, Salgado began a journey in 2001 that would take him to five countries on two continents. Side-by-side with health workers he traveled by boat on narrow rivers and by motorcycle down dusty roads to deliver vaccines to all-but-forgotten settlements where polio has remained endemic even as most of the world has eradicated the disease. He photographed polio victims, many of them now adults but many children too, documenting their efforts to live normal lives despite the disease's crippling effects. A selection of these poignant photos was exhibited at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and other venues before their publication earlier this year in book form as The End of Polio: A Global Effort to End a Disease (Bulfinch Press)."

This brief article documents Salgado's photographic journey, while also including a few of his black-and-white photos of vaccination experiences and campaigns from 4 of the 5 countries he visited: Uttar Pradesh (India), the Democratic Republic of Congo, Baidoa (Somalia), New Dehli (India), and Sudan (Salgado also travelled to Pakistan).

Click here for this resource on the PAHO website (English language).

Click here for this resource on the PAHO website (Spanish language).