The Final Inch. A 2009 documentary that is thrilling and infuriating. And it brings hope for 2022 – Ziarul Mesagerul de Sibiu

The Final Inch is not a documentary for, for example, business people, analysts, lobbyists, bankers and business lawyers, or economics teachers.

This community generally watches feature films about great successes or financial scams, stellar businessmen and of course, global economic crises – by the way, all of these are likely to help direct or indirect business players understand and accept that one has to expect a serious economic crisis in the next 2-3 years, starting from an unimaginable health crisis 2-3 years ago.

And to make sure no one is wasting their time watching this 38-minute documentary – nominated for an Oscar in 2009 – he didn’t take it, it’s the year he shone Slumdog Millionaire – I’ll give you a complete spoiler. The documentary, directed by Irene Brodski, recounts in an equally moving and infuriating way the exceptional efforts of a “silent army” of health workers dedicated to polio vaccination in the 3 Asian countries – India, Afghanistan and Pakistan – in which it the disease is still endemic.

Poliomyelitis, also called childhood paralysis, is an infectious-contagious disease with digestive transmission caused by an RNA virus. The virus destroys the nerves in the spinal cord and causes infernal paralysis and atrophy, disability, social ostracism, premature death. The disease was endemic until the middle of the last century in the United States and Europe, wreaking havoc on child populations. Vaccination with injectable formula began in 1956 and oral vaccination in 1961 – at the time of introduction both were in the experimental phase, but the risks were assumed in relation to the benefits – so that in developed countries the disease has disappeared for more than 50 years. years.

De ce the The Final Inch is it exciting Because it describes the struggle and incomprehensible efforts for the civilized world today that health workers are making in the “final battle” in the poorest regions of Asia to vaccinate children against polio who are likely to develop paralytic complications. They have a two-stage course of action, first the “persuaders” go, the health workers talk to local leaders and communities to persuade them to vaccinate their children, and then the “vaccinators” apply the vaccine drops. The movie has been described as “a dramatic testament to those working in the forefront of the health care system”.

Why is he angry? Because you have an infernal deja vu: politicians who blame other politicians for not ending the epidemic and maintaining unsanitary conditions; “visionary” clerics and opinion leaders who claim that the vaccine produces sterility; and businessmen who occasionally refuse to give the necessary financial support to the efforts of the “silent army.”

In 2022, Romania celebrates the 30th anniversary of the last case of domestic polio, the disease being eradicated due to the mandatory vaccination scheme implemented since the 1980s with the help of the polio vaccine manufactured at the Cantacuzino Institute.

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