Eradicating Polio in Nigeria

Nigeria has gone for a year and a half without a new case of wild poliovirus. One of the last three countries where polio has been endemic (Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan) is on its way to being declared officially polio-free after a concerted vaccination drive by Nigeria's federal and state governments, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. They set a target of 80% vaccination. In 2012, only 16% of high-risk areas reached the target, but by 2015, 97% had. Very impressive. It's nice to read a good news story for a change.

With vigorous government backing, Emergency Operations Centres were established. Each worked as a War Room, with focused teams, and direct action based on lots of data and metrics. Read more about it in this fascinating McKinsey report.

Bill Gates - Curator Extraordinaire

The TED team is always looking for ways to make the TED experience richer and more interesting.  This year they invited Bill Gates to be curator and host.  He was a superlative curator, the only session so far where every speaker has received a standing ovation.  He was also a delightfully informal and engaging host.

I was particularly fortunate to be sitting on the stage for this session with other TEDx organizers, and it was a real thrill to feel part of the Main Stage experience.

There were 4 speakers:

• David Christian with a fascinating professorial lecture on the history of the world in 18 minutes.  80%SO
• Amina Az-Zubair from Nigeria describing that country’s progress toward achieving the Millenium Development Goals, and improving democracy and decreasing corruption along the way.  FSO
• Bruce Aylward’s impassioned plea to keep up the fight to eliminate polio.  FSO.
• Salman Khan describing the Khan Academy phenomenon, which just might revolutionize education.  SOWSS
• Gates himself was a gracious and articulate host and asked great questions of each speaker. FSO

 I’ll describe each of these talks in more detail in future posts.

And I’m sure you’re curious about my rating scheme for the talks.  Here’s how to read the ratings:

• FSO - Full Standing Ovation by everyone in the audience
• X% SO - my entirely crude estimate of the percentage of the audience participating in the Standing O
• SOWSS - Standing O with Sustained Shouting.  There had to be a category to capture those receptions that go well beyond a Full Standing O.