Ali Maow Maalin was the last person to get smallpox before it was eradicated.

He was cured from it in 1977 and made a full recovery.

In the 1990s he was a local coordinator in the fight against Polio in the region, where he spent years traveling around, distributing vaccines and educating the population.

In 2013, he was again campaigning in the region after Polio had been reintroduced, but fell ill with a fever.

On July 22nd 2013, he died of Malaria.