Between 1908 and 1919 Albert Calmette and Camille Guérin developed a vaccine against pulmonary tuberculosis, one of the leading causes of death at the time. Their vaccine, BCG, is currently administered to 80% of the world's children and is probably the most administered vaccine in the world. Tuberculosis, however, still causes of millions of deaths each year. Although the efficacy of BCG remains controversial, it is definitely not the panacea that it was long hoped, and often claimed, to be.
How did BCG, in spite of doubts about its effectiveness, become so widespread? Why was its use considered essential for disease control in developing countries, while many developed countries successfully controlled TB without it? The history of BCG provides a fascinating insight in the problems of statistically evaluating vaccines, the history of health policies, and the history of medical aid to developing countries since the 1950s.
None as yet.