Dr. Ciro de Quadros died last Wednesday at the age of 74 due to pancreatic cancer. The Brazilian led an immunization campaign, which led to the eradication of polio in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In 1985, he worked to reach unimmunized children below the age of 5, who he said were the most vulnerable people, notes the New York Times.

Ciro Carlos Araujo de Quadros was born in Jan. 30, 1940 in Rio Pardo, Brazil. He worked in a clinic in the Amazon, held several executive positions at the Pan American Health Organization and taught at Johns Hopkins's school of medicine and public health.

For de Quadros, it wasn't always easy to gain support.

For example, Dr. Halfdan Mahler first opposed de Quadros' plans because he thought it meant less money for primary health care in these remote areas. But people eventually began to see that starting with vaccines was the perfect starting point.

"Medicine, sanitation, nutrition, education -- all are necessary and interrelated components of preventing and curing sickness," de Quadros said. "But there is one tool that stands out as the most effective: vaccines. Every child -- no matter where he or she is born -- has a fundamental right to vaccines."

De Quadros and his team focused on the Sabin vaccine, which was taken orally, though they also had vaccines that fought measles, diptheria, pertussis, tetanus and tuberculosis.

In war-torn countries, he negotiated to get people vaccines.

De Quadros got El Salvador and Guatemala to cease fire for 24 hours so that he could administer the vaccines. However, he wasn't always as successful. In Peru, his team simply worked around the areas controlled by rebels.

He also kept records and made sure that children didn't miss a vaccination.

Polio was eradicated in Latin America in 1994. The last reported case was in Peru in 1991.

More than anything, de Quadros inspired others. Dr. Donald A. Henderson helped de Quadros in Ethiopia, where they were in the midst of a civil war. About six of his teams were kidnapped.

"There's a measure of the dedication he inspired," said Dr. Henderson. "Even that hijacked pilot vaccinated the rebels who held him."