01200nas a2200205   4500000000100000008004100001260003400042653005700076653002100133653002700154100001500181700001100196700001200207700001100219700001100230245007000241856006900311520058900380022002500969       2021                            d  bOxford University Press (OUP)10aPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health10aGeneral Medicine10aHealth(social science)1 aHopkins DR1 aIjaz K1 aWeiss A1 aRoy SL1 aRoss D00aReply to: Rethinking disease eradication: putting countries first  uhttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8643430/pdf/ihab055.pdf3 aIn a recent article, Gebre1 suggests that endemic countries should lead in deciding on disease eradication initiatives and asserts that ‘elimination as a public health problem’ is the preferred option because eradication occurs at the expense of other health programs and weakens fragile health systems. The author's primary example is dracunculiasis (Guinea worm) eradication, but he fails to take into account that vertical disease elimination and eradication programs also strengthen health systems overall. Eradication means permanent reduction to an incidence of zero of a...  a1876-3413, 1876-3405