There's this:
"A global effort to
eradicate polio began in 1988, led by the
World Health Organization,
UNICEF, and
The Rotary Foundation.
[81] These efforts have reduced the number of cases diagnosed each year by 99.9 percent; from an estimated 350,000 cases in 1988 to a low of 483 cases in 2001, after which it remained at a level of about 1,000 – 2000 cases per year for a number of years.
[82]"
From:
Polio - Wikipedia
And this:
"In 1967, the World Health Organization intensified the global smallpox eradication by contributing $2.4 million annually to the effort, and adopted the new
disease surveillance method promoted by Czech epidemiologist
Karel Raška.
[100]
In the early 1950s, an estimated 50 million cases of smallpox occurred in the world each year.
[10] To eradicate smallpox, each outbreak had to be stopped from spreading, by isolation of cases and vaccination of everyone who lived close by. This process is known as "ring vaccination". The key to this strategy was the monitoring of cases in a community (known as surveillance) and containment. The initial problem the WHO team faced was inadequate reporting of smallpox cases, as many cases did not come to the attention of the authorities. The fact that humans are the only reservoir for smallpox infection and that
carriers did not exist, played a significant role in the eradication of smallpox. The WHO established a network of consultants who assisted countries in setting up surveillance and containment activities. Early on, donations of vaccine were provided primarily by the Soviet Union and the United States, but by 1973, more than 80 percent of all vaccine was produced in developing countries.
[96] The Soviet Union provided one and a half billion doses between 1958 and 1979, as well as medical staff.
[101]
The last major European outbreak of smallpox was in
1972 in Yugoslavia, after a pilgrim from
Kosovo returned from the Middle East, where he had contracted the virus. The epidemic infected 175 people, causing 35 deaths. Authorities declared
martial law, enforced quarantine, and undertook widespread re-vaccination of the population, enlisting the help of the WHO. In two months, the outbreak was over.
[102] Prior to this, there had been a smallpox outbreak in May–July 1963 in
Stockholm, Sweden, brought from the
Far East by a Swedish sailor; this had been dealt with by quarantine measures and vaccination of the local population.
[103]
By the end of 1975, smallpox persisted only in the
Horn of Africa."
From:
Smallpox - Wikipedia
And there is the less obvious stuff going on the background, such as expert support to local initiatives, e.g. :
" The 6 countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) – Cambodia, China (Yunnan Province), the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam – continue to make significant gains in their battle to eliminate malaria by 2030. In recent years, there has been remarkable progress towards elimination of the disease. Between 2012 and 2018, the reported number of malaria cases fell by 74%; malaria deaths fell by 95% over the same period.
Collectively, GMS countries reported the steepest decline to date in
Plasmodium falciparummalaria. The number of
P. falciparum cases dropped by 65% in the first half of 2019 compared to the same period last year. This accelerated decrease is especially critical in view of the ongoing threat posed by drug resistance. As the lead global technical agency, WHO supports GMS countries as they work to counter multidrug resistance and eliminate malaria."
