Jonas Salk: The Polio Vaccine Hero Who Chose Kindness Over Profit

This mini episode I discuss Jonas Salk, a visionary medical researcher who developed the world’s first effective polio vaccine in 1955, bringing relief to millions facing the crippling disease. Rather than patenting his breakthrough, Salk famously declared, 'There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?' His selfless choice allowed for widespread distribution, transforming public health and solidifying his legacy as a true hero of kindness.

Please note transcription accuracy may vary.

Music by:
(Neffex - A year ago)
(Neffex - dont want to let myself go)

sources:
https://rarediseases.org/organizations/march-of-dimes/https://www.marchofdimes.org/about-us/mission/history/history-march-dimeshttps://warmspringsfoundation.org/the-foundation/https://www.britannica.com/science/polio/Polio-through-historyhttps://www.fdrlibrary.org/poliohttps://www.salk.edu/

Transcript

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There is no patent. Would you patent it? The sun. These were the words of Jonas Salk. Hi. Hi. Hi. Welcome to another mini episode. The person I chose for Acts of Kindness as the quote suggests is Jonah Salk in the late 19th century. and early 20th century, there was a disease that was highly contagious around the world. The disease was called polio. It got its name from a British paediatrician called Michael Underwood in 1789. Polio, also known as poliomytis. Mainly affected children under the age of five. According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 200 infections of polio would lead to irreversible paralysis. I am going to have to introduce you to a president. I've got an American president 32nd President of America, called Franklin D. Roosevelt. You may have heard of him, you may not have. I figure if you're American, you've heard of him. I'm going to refer to him as FDR, which I think is allowed, so, FDR was diagnosed with polio in 1921. He became paralyzed from the waist down. It was shortly after this that one of his friends, a philanthropist called George Peabody, recommended a place he had heard of that cured a young boy it's located in Georgia called Wild Spring. At the time it was widely believed that the water in the springs had healing powers. FDR would continue to visit these springs throughout his life. Although it didn't cure him, when it faced being closed down, he would go on to support them by buying the facility. The Warm Spring Foundation still continues helping people today I'm hoping that you're getting the relevance of FDR, FDR will lead us to the MVP of the story, because without him being such an strong advocate in the fight against polio, it may be argued that, I'm not saying this is the case, I'm just saying it may be argued that without him it wouldn't have received the publicity and the funding that it did at the time. It was in 1938 that FDR would go on to create the March of Dimes, initially called the National Foundation of Infantile Paralysis. The March of Dimes is such an act of kindness in itself. Millions of children around America would go on to donate their own dimes in an effort to aid the polio research and care. It was through the March of Dimes that Jonas Salk would receive the crucial funding to embark on his work to develop a polio vaccine. Jonas Salk was born on October the 28th 1914, so by the time this goes out if he was still alive it would have been his 110th birthday. I wanted to honour him and everything he did. He was the eldest of three boys born to Russian Jewish immigrants. He would go on to receive a medical degree from the New York School of Medicine in 1939. then go on to study a research fellowship. to develop an influenza vaccine. He soon advanced to the position of assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan. From 1948 to 1955, those living in Northern America and Western Europe were in constant fear of the virus. By 1952, there was an estimated 57, 000 reported cases of polio. Salk, at this stage a young virologist was awarded a grant from the March of Dimes to work on the polio research at the University of Pittsburgh. After rigorous testing and trials, including a massive field study involving over 1 million children who would later be known as the polio pioneers, Salk along with his team worked tirelessly to develop the vaccine and their breakthrough finally came in 1955. with the support of the March of Dimes, Jonas Salk developed the first efficient inactive polio vaccine this promoted the immune system to build up a defense against a disease without risking infection. Salk believed that using a killed virus vaccine could offer a safe solution. Following the rollout of the vaccine and its success, It became a public health triumph. And millions of children were vaccinated against this horrible, horrible disease. And it reduced the global burden of polio dramatically. Initially, when I was researching him, not to dampen this, I thought, oh, what he's achieved is amazing, but it did enter my head, how safe was it, these trials used on children? At the time, he did receive criticism for this. But it's important to mention that whilst he did receive criticism, he also did test the vaccine on himself and his family. What we now know in hindsight, the trials were an ethical turning point in medical research because of their scale. Following the rollout of the vaccine and its success, It became a public health triumph. And millions of children were vaccinated against this horrible, horrible disease. And it reduced the global burden of polio dramatically. The vaccine was later supplemented by the oral polio vaccine developed by Albert Sabin. However, not taking anything away from Albert Sabin, this wouldn't have been achievable without the work that Jonas Salk and his team had already done In 1963, Jonas Salk founded the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, which is based in California and is still supported by the March of Dimes. The Institute has become a prestigious center for scientific research, attracting top scientists from all around the world. He envisioned a place where scientists could freely pursue their research without the pressure of teaching or fundraising. And hoped it would foster innovation for a range of biological disciplines. even though I feel this one's an easy one. Act of kindness that he invented this vaccine, but as I said right at the beginning with that quote, there is no patent, would you patent the sun? This was when he was asked by a journalist, well, are you going to patent the virus? And his answer was no. No, he wasn't going to, by not painting it, he ensured worldwide distribution and his lifelong commitment to science reflect a deep sense of kindness, kindness that changed the world, kindness that changed millions of lives. It was a profound act of kindness. So, he made the vaccine affordable to everyone. It just didn't help those in America. It helped everyone around the world. Yay to him. What a profound act of kindness. Thank you for listening to another episode. And as always, please be kind to others, but most importantly, be kind to yourself. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Bye, bye, bye.