Francisco Javier Balmis

Spanish physician and botanist (1753 – 1819).

Francisco Javier de Balmis (2 December 1753 – 12 February 1819) was a Spanish physician best known for leading an 1803 expedition to Spanish America, the Philippines and China to vaccinate populations against smallpox. His expedition was the first international vaccination campaign in history and one of the most important events in the history of medicine. It inspired recent vaccination efforts such as that of Carlos Canseco, president of Rotary International, to start the worldwide program PolioPlus to eradicate polio.