Global Institute for Disease Elimination

WHY FOCUS ON ELIMINATING AND ERADICATING DISEASE?

Disease elimination and eradication are the ultimate goals of public health and the culmination of the disease control process. Only two diseases have been declared eradicated by the World Health Organization to date: one human disease – smallpox, and one animal disease – rinderpest, which was a deadly disease that affected herds of cattle.

Infectious diseases play a debilitating role in millions of people’s lives, impacting children’s ability to go to school and their families’ ability to work, thereby limiting the growth of local and regional economies. Eliminating and eradicating these ancient diseases of poverty would have a truly life-changing impact on the lives of people in nearly 100 countries and boost global economic prospects. Simply put, disease elimination and eradication would rank among the greatest human achievements.

GLIDE envisions a world free from infectious diseases of poverty.

GLIDE aims to accelerate progress towards disease elimination to alleviate human suffering.  We do this by elevating awareness and engagement, advancing elimination strategies, and fostering and scaling innovation.