The Final Inch | |
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Directed by | Irene Taylor Brodsky |
Produced by | Irene Taylor Brodsky Tom Grant |
Starring | Mohammad Gulzar Saifi |
Cinematography | Jeff Streich Irene Taylor Brodsky |
Edited by | Bill Weber |
Music by | Joe Janiga Courtney Von Drehle |
Production company | Vermilion Films |
Distributed by | Home Box Office |
Release date |
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Running time | 38 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | English Urdu Hindi |
The Final Inch is a short documentary about the effort to eradicate polio. It was directed by Irene Taylor Brodsky and focuses on health workers on the front lines of the fight to eliminate the disease. [1] It was filmed on location in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India and received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the 81st Academy Awards. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
The film debuted on HBO on April 1, 2009. [7] The Final Inch is the first film project of Google.org, [8] the philanthropic division of Google. [9] [10]
The Final Inch focuses on the efforts that were ongoing to eradicate polio in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan [2] [10] (it has since been eradicated in India; [11] [12] efforts continue in Pakistan and Afghanistan). The corollary goal of worldwide eradication of polio has attracted attention, but "getting rid of the last 1 percent has been like trying to squeeze Jell-O to death." [13]
The philanthropic division of Google backed the film's production to promote public awareness about polio and to raise awareness about the efforts of public health workers and volunteers fighting the disease in counties around the world. [2] They approached Brodsky about making the film and she accepted the task of educating the public to the ongoing problem. [2]
Many of the movie's scenes were shot in slum areas of India and Pakistan during "National Immunization Day" in April 2007. [7] Brodsky wanted to include more comprehensive coverage of the polio problem in Afghanistan, but was unable to do so due to the threat of violence and because of social barriers. [1] [2] The production's ability to film in Afghanistan was hampered by increased danger to the film crew. [1] [2] Producer Tom Grant had to wear a bulletproof vest while filming along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, even while under constant U.N. protection. [14] The crew was often denied access to homes because of familial protocols that forbid a man entering a home with women in it when no husband is present. [1] [2]
The film depicted the problems still occurring fifty years after the development of the polio vaccine, and shows areas where the polio virus was still found in several countries around the world. Without vaccinations, it could re-emerge and re-infect regions where it was eradicated decades ago, and the film also notes that the first line of defense is a dedicated and continual effort by international health workers going door-to-door to ensure every child is vaccinated. [2] [9]
The Final Inch shows that there was an opportunity to eradicate polio from India (the last case of wild polio in India was reported on 13 January 2011 [11] and the WHO announced the eradication of poliomyelitis in the region on 27 March 2014 [12] ) and honors the work of health services and service volunteers. It recalls the devastating polio epidemics in the United States that occurred during the 1930s and 1950s and discusses the dangers of a resurgence that still remain in the United States unless the disease is wiped out worldwide. Obstacles to eradication include lack of awareness, the large number of children requiring vaccination, geographical dispersal of the populations, social mores, religious beliefs, and suspicion of domestic and foreign governments. [14] The movie shows that many of those at risk remain ignorant of polio's epidemiology and believe the disease is "American made", fostering a reluctance to be vaccinated. [2] [9] [14]
The Final Inch was screened in April 2009 at the Salem Film Festival and was described as being "profoundly moving" in its revealing coverage of the polio virus's ongoing impact, and was described as a "dramatic testament to those working on the front lines of health care". [15]
Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe symptoms develop such as headache, neck stiffness, and paresthesia. These symptoms usually pass within one or two weeks. A less common symptom is permanent paralysis, and possible death in extreme cases. Years after recovery, post-polio syndrome may occur, with a slow development of muscle weakness similar to what the person had during the initial infection.
Polio vaccines are vaccines used to prevent poliomyelitis (polio). Two types are used: an inactivated poliovirus given by injection (IPV) and a weakened poliovirus given by mouth (OPV). The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends all children be fully vaccinated against polio. The two vaccines have eliminated polio from most of the world, and reduced the number of cases reported each year from an estimated 350,000 in 1988 to 33 in 2018.
Dracunculiasis, also called Guinea-worm disease, is a parasitic infection by the Guinea worm, Dracunculus medinensis. A person becomes infected by drinking water contaminated with Guinea-worm larvae that reside inside copepods. Stomach acid digests the copepod and releases the Guinea worm, which penetrates the digestive tract and escapes into the body. Around a year later, the adult female migrates to an exit site – usually the lower leg – and induces an intensely painful blister on the skin. Eventually, the blister bursts, creating a painful wound from which the worm gradually emerges over several weeks. The wound remains painful throughout the worm's emergence, disabling the affected person for the three to ten weeks it takes the worm to emerge.
Pulse Polio is an immunisation campaign established by the government of India to eliminate poliomyelitis (polio) in India by vaccinating all children under the age of five years against the polio virus. The project fights polio through a large-scale, pulse vaccination programme and monitoring for poliomyelitis cases.
Vikas Swarup is a retired Indian diplomat and writer. He retired from the Indian Foreign Service as the Secretary (West) at the Ministry of External Affairs, India on 30 June 2021 and has previously served as High Commissioner of India in Canada and has been the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs. He was best known as the author of the novel Q & A, adapted in film as Slumdog Millionaire, the winner of Best Film for the year 2009 at the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards and BAFTA Awards.
Dracunculus medinensis is a nematode that causes dracunculiasis, also known as guinea worm disease. The disease is caused by the female which, at around 80 centimetres in length, is among the longest nematodes infecting humans. The length of specimens exhibits extreme sexual dimorphism, as the longest recorded male Guinea worm is only 4 cm.
Irene Taylor is a film director and producer.
Polio eradication, the goal of permanent global cessation of circulation of the poliovirus and hence elimination of the poliomyelitis (polio) it causes, is the aim of a multinational public health effort begun in 1988, led by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Rotary Foundation. These organizations, along with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and The Gates Foundation, have spearheaded the campaign through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). Successful eradication of infectious diseases has been achieved twice before, with smallpox in humans and rinderpest in ruminants.
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is a Canadian-Pakistani journalist, filmmaker and political activist known for her work in films that highlight gender inequality against women.
Mass vaccination is a public policy effort to vaccinate a large number of people, possibly the entire population of the world or of a country or region, within a short period of time. This policy may be directed during a pandemic, when there is a localized outbreak or scare of a disease for which a vaccine exists, or when a new vaccine is invented.
The eradication of infectious diseases is the reduction of the prevalence of an infectious disease in the global host population to zero.
Slumdog Millionaire is a 2009 British drama film that is a loose adaptation of the novel Q & A (2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup. It narrates the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai. Starring Dev Patel in his film debut as Jamal, and filmed in India, it was directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and produced by Christian Colson, with Loveleen Tandan credited as co-director. As a contestant on Kaun Banega Crorepati, an Indian-Hindi version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Jamal surprises everyone by answering every question correctly so far, winning ₹1 crore, and he is one question away from winning the grand prize of ₹2 crore. Accused of cheating, he recounts his life story to the police, illustrating how he was able to answer each question.
Health in Afghanistan remains poor but steadily improving. It has been negatively affected by the nation's environmental issues and the decades of war since 1978. The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) oversees all matters concerning the health of the country's residents. The Human Rights Measurement Initiative finds that Afghanistan is fulfilling 72.5% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to health based on its level of income.
The Rotary Foundation is a non-profit corporation that supports the efforts of Rotary International to achieve world understanding and peace through international humanitarian, educational, and cultural exchange programs. It is supported solely by voluntary contributions.
Pakistan is one of the two remaining countries in the world where poliomyelitis (polio) is still categorized as an endemic viral infection, the other one being Afghanistan. While it has yet to fully eradicate Polio, there has been a major downwards trend in the number of reported cases per year; the total count of wild poliovirus cases in Pakistan in 2019 was down to 147, compared to 84 in 2020, 1 in 2021, 20 in 2022, 6 in 2023 and 8 as of June 2024.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is an initiative created in 1988, just after the World Health Assembly resolved to eradicate the disease poliomyelitis. Led by the World Health Organization, it is the largest international public health initiative in history.
Eradication of dracunculiasis is an ongoing program. Dracunculiasis, or Guinea worm disease, is an infection by the Guinea worm. In 1986, there were an estimated 3.5 million cases of Guinea worm in 20 endemic nations in Asia and Africa. Ghana alone reported 180 000 cases in 1989. The number of cases has since been reduced by more than 99.999% to 14 in 2023 in six remaining endemic states: South Sudan, Chad, Mali, Ethiopia, Angola, and Central African Republic.
Michael Joseph Ryan is an Irish epidemiologist and former trauma surgeon, specialising in infectious disease and public health. He is executive director of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Programme, leading the team responsible for the international containment and treatment of COVID-19. Ryan has held leadership positions and has worked on various outbreak response teams in the field to eradicate the spread of diseases including bacillary dysentery, cholera, Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever, Ebola, Marburg virus disease, measles, meningitis, relapsing fever, Rift Valley fever, SARS, and Shigellosis.
The World Health Organization (WHO) created the Global Commission for the Certification of the Eradication of Poliomyelitis in 1995 to independently verify the eradication of wild poliovirus. The GCC certified the worldwide eradication of indigenous wild poliovirus type 2 on 20 September 2015, and wild poliovirus type 3 on 17 October 2019. In addition, five of the six World Health Organization Regions certified their status as free of indigenous transmission of all three serotypes of wild poliovirus :