Sabin Vaccine Institute: 20th Anniversary Scientific Symposium
Friday, April 25, 2014
Excerpt
…To celebrate wide-ranging global immunization and vaccine development achievements over the past twenty years since its founding, the Sabin Vaccine Institute convened a Scientific Symposium of some of the world’s leading health experts at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to examine the innovations needed to overcome remaining obstacles to universal access to immunizations.

“Vaccines are one of the most powerful, cost-effective interventions that save lives and catalyze economic growth,” said, executive vice president of the Sabin Vaccine Institute. “Partner coordination, advocacy, and country ownership has led to the eradication and elimination of diseases such as smallpox, and polio is on the verge of being eradicated. The introduction of life-saving vaccines for rotavirus and pneumococcal, among other diseases, has occurred in many areas around the world. But we must continue to fulfill a shared responsibility to ensure that all individuals in every country have access to vaccines, a fundamental human right to health.”…

[Editor’s Note: PAHO made a special announcement during the Symposium honoring Dr. Ciro de Quadros as a “Public Health Hero” – reflecting his career-long contributions to immunization across many sectors and organizations beginning with his initial role at PAHO in 1957.]