In 1975, smallpox eradication workers in the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, rushed to a village in the south of the country called Kuralia. They were abuzz and the journey was urgent because they thought they just might be going to document the very last case of variola major, a deadly strain of the virus. 

When they arrived, they met a toddler, Rahima Banu.

She did have smallpox, and five years later, in 1980, when the World Health Organization declared smallpox eradicated, Banu became a symbol of one of the greatest accomplishments in public health.

That’s the lasting public legacy of Rahima Banu, the girl.

Episode 8, the series finale of “Eradicating Smallpox,” is the story of Rahima Banu, the woman — and her life after smallpox.

To meet with her, podcast host Céline Gounder traveled to Digholdi, Bangladesh, where Banu, her husband, their three daughters, and a son share a one-room bamboo-and-corrugated-metal home with a mud floor. Their finances are precarious. The family cannot afford good health care or to send their daughter to college.

The public has largely forgotten Banu, while in her personal life, she faced prejudice from the local community because she had smallpox. Those negative attitudes followed her for decades after the virus was eradicated. 

“I feel ashamed of my scars. People also felt disgusted,” Banu said, crying as she spoke through an interpreter. 

Despite the hardship she’s faced, she is proud of her role in history, and that her children never had to live with the virus. 
“It did not happen to anyone, and it will not happen,” she said.

Voices From the Episode:

• Rahima Banu
  The last person in the world to have a naturally occurring case of the deadliest strain of smallpox
• Nazma Begum
  Rahima Banu’s daughter
• Rafiqul Islam
  Rahima Banu’s husband
• Alan Schnur
  Former World Health Organization smallpox eradication program worker in Bangladesh

Find a transcript of this episode here.

“Epidemic” is a co-production of KFF Health News and Just Human Productions.

To hear other KFF Health News podcasts, click here.

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