The Red Bug: The Politics and Science of BCG In Controlling Tuberculosis

• In Event: Health Policy in Comparative Perspective

Abstract

No single disease born epidemic has affected more people than Tuberculosis (TB). Its deadly history has impacted societies and around the globe and resulted in hundreds of millions of fatalities over the last several centuries. The invention of the Bacillus Calmette-Gurin (BCG) vaccine, was heralded as a means of combating this deadly disease, yet its introduction has been controversial, and its effects contested. Global BCG vaccination campaigns have met with social and political resistance at nearly every turn and in every country. This paper examines the current status of global BCG programs from an organizational and humanitarian perspective and analyzes the impact of complex political and societal structures on the ability to continue the fight against TB.

Authors

• Aaron F. Brantly, Virginia Polytechnic and State University

• Nataliya Dubchak Brantly, Virginia Tech