ners and nurses also traveled, in addition to 22 Spanish children (carriers of the vaccine in their arms) and the rector of the Orphanage of La Coruña, Isabel Zendal, who took care of the children during the crossing to America and his subsequent trips across the continent.That philanthropic Spanish expedition had the merit of being the first public health campaign on a world scale, with the aim, in this case, of ending what was then the deadliest disease on the planet: smallpox. To better assess the importance of the Spanish Vaccine Expedition it is enough to remember that after that Medical Expedition, more than a hundred years had to LUIS NEGRO MARCO Francisco xavier Balmis y Berenguer pass so that, as early as the 20th century, the League of Nations would launch new global campaigns similar to that. Likewise, according to Dr. José Tuells (director of the Balmis Chair of Vaccinology of the University of Alicante), the fact that it was precisely America, the continent where smallpox, polio and measles were previously eradicated, was due to a large extent to the Balmis Expedition and to the Vaccination Boards that the Spanish doctor promoted on the continent. They are more than enough reasons for the members of the Spanish «Real Philanthropic Vaccine Expedition» deserve eternal memory, full recognition and undying gratitude of Humanity. Key words: Expeditions, Francisco xavier Balmis, vaccines. EN el año 1980 ―ciento setenta y cuatro años después de que la «Real Expedición Filantrópica de la Vacuna», a cuyo frente estuvo el médico alicantino Francisco xavier Balmis y Berenguer (1753-1819) (1), a la sazón médico honorario de cámara de Carlos IV―, la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) declaró erradicada la viruela en el planeta. Desde entonces es ya innecesaria la vacunación contra la extinta enfermedad, si bien las autoridades mundiales decidieron que se conservaran sendas muestras criogeniza- (1) Francisco xavier Balmis y Berenguer (Alicante, 2 de diciembre de 1753-Madrid, 12 de febrero de 1819) fue médico y cirujano del Regimiento de Cazadores de Zamora y, posteriormente, médico honorario de cámara del rey Carlos IV. En 1803 dirigió la Real Expedición Filantrópica de la Vacuna. A su faceta de médico unió la de botánico, de manera que, a su regreso de América, en 1806 depositó en el Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid numerosos dibujos y muestras de plantas recolectadas por él en el continente, desconocidas hasta entonces en Europa. 42 REVISTA DE HISTORIA NAVAL Núm. 140
RHN 140 MAS SUPLEMENTO
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