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SUMMARY: Between 1947 and 1951 the Scandinavian-led International Tuberculosis Campaign tested more than 37 million children and adolescents for tuberculosis, and vaccinated more than 16 million with BCG vaccine. The campaign was an early example of an international health program, and it was generally seen as the largest medical campaign to date. It was born, however, as a Danish effort to create goodwill in war-ravaged Europe, and was extended outside Europe only because UNICEF in 1948 unexpectedly donated US $2 million specifically for BCG vaccination in areas outside Europe. As the campaign transformed from postwar relief to an international health program it was forced to make adaptations to different demographic, social, and cultural contexts. This created a tension between a scientific ideal of uniformity, on the one hand, and pragmatic flexibility on the other. Looking at the campaign in India, which was the most important non-European country in the campaign, this article analyzes three issues in more detail: the development of a simplified vaccination technique; the employment of lay-vaccinators; and whether the campaign in India was conceived as a short-term demonstration or a more extensive mass-vaccination effort.
KEYWORDS: tuberculosis, BCG vaccination, international public health, UNICEF, World Health Organization, India
The spirit of the Nordic Vikings has been part of this campaign as in the old days. Earlier we went out with sword in hand to conquer and fight each other. Today we go out together with the needle as our only weapon to fight the scourge of the Second World War: tuberculosis.1
On 17 January 1950 the Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende offered a story to its readers entitled "Vikingefæ rd mod Tuberkulosen" (A Viking Raid against Tuberculosis). The article dealt with the International Tuberculosis Campaign (ITC), a campaign conducted by UNICEF and three Scandinavian relief organizations and attempting to vaccinate worldwide against tuberculosis, which was a major and growing health concern immediately after World War II.2 Beginning in the spring of 1947 and ultimately covering twenty-two countries, ITC had by its closure on 30 June 1951 tested more than 37 million children and adolescents for tuberculosis and vaccinated more than 16 million with BCG vaccine.3
Initially the campaign concentrated on central and eastern Europe, but soon India came to play a prominent role....