Polio: No Paralice Sus Suenos Polio: No Paralice Sus Suenos

Contributor(s): National Immunization Program The History of Medicine Division. Prints and Photographs Collection Publication: National Immunization Program, [ca. 1990] Language(s): Spanish; Castilian Format: Still image Subject(s): Immunization Programs Poliovirus Public Health Genre(s): Archival Materials Posters Slides (photographs) Abstract: When a series of polio epidemics swept across North America in the 1940s and 1950s, modern medicine was powerless to stop them until the development of the polio vaccine. Its impact was nothing short of miraculous. The development of an injectable form of the Salk polio vaccine in 1955 stimulated widespread administration in schools and clinics in industrialized countries, resulting in a marked drop in cases. For decades the U.S. remained ahead of countries like Mexico in the percentage of children vaccinated. After the measles pandemic reached Mexico in 1990 and killed nearly 6,000 children, however, the Mexican government established a central authority to oversee the national vaccination campaign, known as the National Immunization Program. Posters such as this one are used to promote compliance. Immunization campaigns are run three times a year, with uniformed brigades of nurses keeping careful watch over vaccination rates, neighborhood by neighborhood. Below the image of the wheelchair bound child slumped over the prominent headline "POLIO," the caption reads, "Don't paralyze their dreams." Using an appeal to parental responsibility, the remaining text informs the viewers when to vaccinate their children. In 2002, Mexico had a 96 percent vaccination rate for children ages 1 to 4, compared with an immunization rate of 79 percent for 2-year-olds in the United States.. NOTE: Slide of original poster image is slightly blurry. Copyright: This item may be under copyright protection; contact the copyright owner for permission before re-use. Extent: 1 pages NLM Unique ID: 101584655X32 (See in Profiles in Science) Profiles in Science ID: VCBBCP Permanent Link: http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101584655X32 Archival Collection: Visual Culture and Health Posters (Profiles in Science)