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In the 60's a young Brazilian doctor proposed the ambitious goal of getting a hundred percent vaccination rate among the population attending the health center where she worked. Thus began the career of Ciro de Quadros, who has granted the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Development Cooperation "lead the elimination of polio and measles in the Americas and for being one of the leading scientists in the eradication of smallpox worldwide. "


De Quadros worked for the World Health Organization (WHO) chief epidemiologist of the Program for the Eradication of Smallpox. This experience marked his career and made him join the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), working on plans for routine vaccination against poliomyelitis. In the early 80's set out to eradicate the disease in America. Among the many initiatives that led to achieve this goal, De Quadros arrived to negotiate with the guerrillas in El Salvador and Peru to the vaccination campaign were to conflict zones.


The awards jury, chaired by Pedro Alonso, director of research at the Institute for Global Health of Barcelona, ​​has also recognized the merit of De Quadros to "convince governments of the cost of vaccination and hold them accountable for funding and development immunization campaigns. "The doctor gives an example: "Several studies show that vaccinated children have a much higher school performance than non-vaccinated and, overall, the contribution of the vaccinated population to the country's wealth is greater."