National vaccination programmes receive a global target

Institut Pasteur researchers published their first paper on the new human retrovirus in Science.

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi was central to the collaborative research reported on this date.

The paper supplied evidence for investigating the virus that became known as HIV.

Identifying and publishing the retrovirus supported later work on tests and medicines; effective treatment did not yet exist.

The assembly adopted a resolution committing to global eradication of poliomyelitis.

Countries and health workers were asked to work together to interrupt transmission.

The 1988 vote was a political commitment; polio still required decades of field work.

Governments agreed on a Programme of Action emphasizing people’s needs and reproductive health.

The Cairo agreement connected health services with women’s rights and social conditions.

The Programme of Action emphasized the circumstances and choices of individual women and men.