Update: International Task Force for Disease Eradication, 1992

In 1988, the International Task Force for Disease Eradication (ITFDE) was formed to systematically evaluate the potential for global eradicability* of candidate diseases, identify specific barriers to their eradication that might be surmountable, and promote eradication efforts. In its first four meetings during 1988-1991, the ITFDE examined 15 infectious diseases and determined that four-dracunculiasis, poliomyelitis, mumps, and rubella-are good candidates for eradication (1,2). In its fifth meeting in March 1992, the ITFDE evaluated the potential eradicability of six other diseases (Table 1). The criteria used by the ITFDE to evaluate these diseases was provided previously (2). This report summarizes the results of the fifth meeting.