Conference: CSIS Conference on the Strategic Power of Vaccines
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Washington, DC 9 December 2011

“This conference grows out of the remarkable surge of interest in vaccines in public health efforts worldwide. Last year, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation committed $10 billion to help research, develop, and deliver vaccines over the next ten years, which it christened the Decade of Vaccines. Recent analyses in The Lancet, Nature, Health Affairs, and elsewhere have portrayed vaccines as a “best buy,” a cost-effective global health tool in a tough fiscal environment. In June, at its first pledging conference, the GAVI Alliance received $4.3 billion in commitments from governments and private donors, surpassing its $3.7 billion target.

Along with this growing awareness of the value of vaccines, there has arisen a heightened grasp of the complexities of global immunization efforts. There is uncertainty about continued funding and sustainable programs, shoring up public trust in immunization, bringing current campaigns to a successful conclusion, creating the market conditions for the research and development of new vaccines, and guaranteeing their availability and delivery to those most in need, particularly in unstable and insecure environments.

Webcast of conference available here the week of 12 December 2011: SmartGlobalHealth.org.

Keynote speeches:
– Rajiv Shah, Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development
– Anthony Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH

Panelists including:
– Stephen Cochi, CDC
– Helen Evans, GAVI Alliance
– Admiral William Fallon
– Markus Geisser, International Committee of the Red Cross
– Julie Gerberding, Merck Vaccines
– Amanda Glassman, Center for Global Development
– Orin Levine, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
– Margaret McGlynn, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative
– Regina Rabinovich, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
– Anne Schuchat, CDC
– Eric Schwartz, U. of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs

http://csis.org/event/csis-conference-strategic-power-vaccines