Terminating Pandemics

A detailed account of the world's triumphant efforts in eradicating smallpox on a global scale is discussed in this Larry Brilliant speech. The doctor and dedicated philanthropist offers the audience an in-depth look into the fight against smallpox throughout the last century. He reminds the audience that this disease, which can exist in many different forms, has led to more deaths than all of the wars to have taken place in the history of the entire world.

Brilliant urges the audience to try to see a disease like smallpox through the eyes of a mother. He uses photographs to demonstrate the severity of the disease in its different strands and stages, reminding the audience of the world's accomplishment of defeating smallpox once and for all. Without a global detection system in place, however, Brilliant sees little to no hope in protecting the world from future disease outbreak.