It wasn’t long ago when infections plagued the Western world. Smallpox, scarlet fever, measles, typhoid, diphtheria, whooping cough, and other diseases were once considered a tragic part of life. Starting in the mid-1800s, there was a steady drop in the deaths from all these infectious diseases, decreasing by the mid-1900s to very low levels. The elimination of these diseases is one of the most amazing, yet unsung, public health revolutions in history. That journey from disease cesspool to our modern world is a tale of plagues and famine, crushing poverty and filth, lost cures, individual freedoms versus state might, protests and arrests, and much more. Roman Bystrianyk is the Co-author of Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines, and The Forgotten History and Moving Back from Midnight: Working Together to Save Our Planet. He has been researching the history of diseases and vaccines since 1998. He has an extensive background in health and nutrition, as well as a B.S. in engineering and an M.S. in computer science. Dissolving Illusions paints a historic portrait with quotes from the pages of long overlooked medical journals, books, newspapers, and other sources to reveal a startling history that has been disregarded. With this historic information and originally researched data in the form of myth-shattering graphs, Dissolving Illusions shines new light onto issues that are assumed to be clear-cut and settled long ago. Roman’s work can be found at https://dissolvingillusions.com Watch Part 2 of Roman's presentation: https://bit.ly/3yZoPH4 There remains a continued drive toward the transformation of our societies in ways that threaten democracy and our existing way of life. PANDA Open Sessions examine the scientific, political, societal and economic dimensions of these influences. Support more of our work at https://www.pandata.org/donate Presentation: 24 July 2024