Archive for the ‘Vaccine Diplomacy’ category

Spotlight: Pivotal ISID-NTD Meeting

February 18th, 2011

Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts are two of the nation’s largest hub for global health research and development. From July 8th-10th 2011,  International Society of Infectious Diseases (ISID) will be hosting their annual ISID-Neglected Tropical Diseases Meeting (ISID-NTD)  in Cambridge, MA. “The meeting will be open to all and will provide space for dialogue and communication between individuals and organizations involved in efforts to eliminate NTDs around the world.”

This is a rare opportunity to learn from world leaders in the fields of global health, tropical medicine, public policy and social research under one roof, to understand the depth of what is happening, and what are the next actionable steps, to eliminate neglected diseases.

Some of the confirmed speakers are:

Peter Hotez: The George Washington University; Sabin Vaccine Institute

Uche Amazigo: African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control

Steven Ault: Pan American Health Organization

Gautam Biswas: World Health Organization

Donald Bundy:The World Bank

Seunghee Lee: Save the Children USA

The first keynote session will be held on July 8th with a talk by David Molyneux,  Director of the Lymphatic Filariasis Support Centre in the United Kingdom, titled: An Opportunity to End Neglect. The last session will feature a talk by Peter Hotez, President of Sabin Vaccine Institute, titled: Future Research and Development Opportunities.

ISID is dedicated to “improving the care of patients with infectious diseases, the training of clinicians and researchers in infectious diseases and microbiology, and the control of infectious diseases around the world. ”

To learn more about this organization, visit their website here!
For updated information about this pivotal international meeting visit NTD.ISID.org


Global Health Giant Joins Fight to Eliminate Polio

February 15th, 2011

Shortly after Bill Gates’ “Polio and the Power of Vaccines” event—where Mr. Gates and a panel of experts including Sabin Executive Vice President Dr. Ciro de Quadros issued a renewed call to eliminate polio—one global health giant was quoted strongly opposing global polio elimination efforts.

As New York Times reporter Donald McNeil notes in this article published yesterday, “why does it matter what one particular expert thinks? Because, for better or worse, the mantle has been wrapped around the venerable 82-year-old Donald A. Henderson that he is “The Man Who Wiped Out Smallpox.”

Thankfully, Mr. McNeil’s article goes on to report how the esteemed Dr. Henderson has changed his opinion on the important matter of polio eradication. And the reason behind Dr. Henderson’s 180 is a conversation with Dr. de Quadros.

“The Man Who Found the Last Case of Smallpox in Ethiopia and Chased Polio and Measles Out of the Western Hemisphere,” aka Dr. de Quadros, was able to convince “The Man Who Wiped Out Smallpox” that Mr. Gates is committed to eradicating polio and that vaccine technology has advanced considerably, among other things.

Now, with Dr. Henderson on board, the global health community can forcefully move ahead with adding polio to the list of the diseases eliminated from humanity.

Read “Can Polio Be Eradicated? A Skeptic Now Thinks So.”

Spread the Love! End The Neglect.

February 14th, 2011

Chocolates Melt

Flowers Fade

Support Our Cause

Donate Today!


Dear Dengue, We are coming to ELIMINATE you.

February 11th, 2011

We just recently posted about The Cost of Dengue in The Americas and today, the International Vaccine Institute (IVI)  announced the launch of the Dengue Vaccine Initiative (DVI). The initiative is a collaborative project with the Sabin Vaccine Institute (Sabin), the Johns Hopkins University (JHU), and the World Health Organization (WHO) “to support development of vaccines to control dengue fever, a widespread and expanding hemorrhagic fever that is endemic in most tropical and subtropical regions of the world.”

Dengue Fever is a mosquito-borne infection caused by four distinct, yet closely related viruses. The disease is common in tropical areas of the world and has led to death.  The Dengue Vaccine Initiative will begin their efforts in Colombia, Thailand, Brazil, and Vietnam and seeks to raise awareness and political will to prioritize vaccine development towards the eradication of dengue.

Read more here!