01119nas a2200193   4500000000100000008004100001260003400042653005700076653002100133653002700154100001500181700001100196700001200207700001100219700001100230245007000241520058900311022002500900       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 first3 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