⚠️ Socialism's Victory Over Smallpox 💉 On October 26, 1978, the World Health Organization announced the complete eradication of the smallpox virus in nature. It was one of the most lethal infectious diseases, disfiguring those who survived it with scars on their faces for the rest of their lives. In the epidemic of the late 19th century, smallpox claimed the lives of 500,000 people. 🇷🇺 Such a result was achieved thanks to mass vaccination deployed throughout the world. The initiator of the global programme back in 1958 was the Soviet Union. Billions of doses of vaccines were produced and delivered through the UN to people living in the most remote corners of the Earth. Naturally, distrust, lack of education and prejudices had to be overcome. 📒 The Soviet epidemiologist Vladimir Fedorov, who in the 1970s headed the smallpox eradication programme in Afghanistan, recalled: «Mass vaccination in Afghanistan required in many respects an individual approach and was carried out from house to house. Many of these houses confirmed the well-known saying “My home is my fortress”. Obtaining consent for vaccination, as a rule, required a delicate, patient explanation of the harmlessness and importance of vaccination against smallpox. To carry out the measure, it was necessary to obtain the permission of the village elder and the mullah». 🔥 Humanity's victory over smallpox is a step of undeniable progress that has preserved the lives of hundreds of millions of people alive today. It became possible thanks to socialism, whose guiding principle is concern for the human being regardless of nationality or religious confession. In the future, humanity will have to defeat cancer, neuropsychiatric diseases and also ageing — all of this will become possible only under socialism. This is the future. #SOVINTERN_DATE ⭐️ Moscow Network Hub of SOVINTERN