Polio eradication is a costly effort- vaccines, administrators, research, technology, distribution, and more.  But it's more costly if we stop vaccinations in the four endemic nations- India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria.  Imagine if we stop, the disease flares up, spreads, and grows in numbers.   Then how do we respond?  Will we be able to provide treatment to all those afflicted?  Treatment is costly too, if not more costly.

So, rather than keep the disease at bay, we ought to wipe it out.  Now.

And if we eradicate, then we can save funds and go into a post-eradication policy.   That's smarter.

Professor Thompson has been collaborating closely with CDC and WHO.  She's got models, numbers, and stats to prove her findings.  To learn more about her research, visit: http://www.kidrisk.org/ and http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/faculty/kimberly-thompson/

Listen to Professor Thompson share her work on polio and passion for health policy.

 
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Professor Kimberly Thompson is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Risk Analysis and Decision Science in the Depart of Health, Policy and Management at Harvard University.  She's a graduate of MIT and Harvard.

Professor Thompson loves children, health, policy, and economics- put that together and you get her Kid Risk, Inc. project.  Polio encompasses all four.