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| PNEUMOFOCUS |
BULLETIN OF GAVI'S PNEUMOADIP AT JOHNS HOPKINS BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
PNEUMO ADIP: PNEUMOCOCCAL VACCINES ACCELERATED DEVELOPMENT AND INTRODUCTION PLAN
Volume 1, No. 11 December, 2004
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EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR'S NOTE |
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| 2004 has been a year of preparation
and momentum building: establishing surveillance networks, documenting
leaders’ understanding of pneumococcal disease, and understanding
vaccine demand and supply for developing countries. In the next 6
to 24 months we are expecting a lot of new information on pneumococcal
disease and its prevention. New disease burden data from countries
and the WHO, cost-effectiveness analyses and more are expected in
the first half of 2005 alone. In this issue of pneumoFOCUS you’ll read about the upcoming WHO-sponsored PneumoADIP investigators’ meeting in Dhaka, Bangladesh and a recent WHO regional conference working to establish pneumococcal disease surveillance in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. We’re asking you to send us your “wish list” for important unpublished data that deserves to appear in a peer-reviewed journal but whose authors have never found the time to write the manuscript. We at PneumoADIP wish all of you and your families a very happy holiday!
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| SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM - 1 FUNDING CYCLE REMAINING |
PneumoADIP’s final Small Grants deadline is February 15, 2005. Please remember that this is the very last cycle of Small Grants funding. For more information about the program and how to apply visit us online at www.preventpneumo.org |
| BBC WORLD ZOOMS IN ON PNEUMOCOCCAL DISEASE |
GAVI’s PneumoADIP is pleased to sponsor an episode of the upcoming BBC World documentary series, “Kill or Cure.” This particular episode will focus on pneumococcal disease in developing countries, giving a human face to those suffering from it and looking at what is being done to prevent it. Filming took place in October in Soweto, South Africa and in Kilifi, Kenya with cooperation from Drs. Shabir Madhi and Keith Klugman in Soweto and Drs. Anthony Scott, Mike English and Wamae Maranga as well as Ms. Beverly Watila of NetSPEAR in East Africa. The first episode of the series will air on January 6, 2005. Please stay tuned for more information on this exciting project and click here to see BBC World’s description of the program. |
| CALL FOR "MOST IMPORTANT UNPUBLISHED DATA" |
Do you consistently
reference or use important data in your work that has gone unpublished
because no one has gotten around to writing up the manuscript and
submitting it to a journal? PneumoADIP is requesting suggestions
of work that you believe is very valuable but has, for whatever
reason, remained unpublished. We will supply resources to move that
work towards journal submission so that others may have access to
the results. |
| EMRO INTER-COUNTRY WORKSHOP ON PNEUMOCOCCAL DISEASE SURVEILLANCE |
Cairo,
Egypt, December 7-8, 2004 – In order to develop recommendations
for a regional pneumococcal disease surveillance network the WHO’s
Eastern Mediterranean Region held a meeting here bringing together
leaders in vaccines and research from throughout the region. Participants
included EPI managers, the International Pediatric Association,
the Naval Medical Research Unit 3 (NAMRU-3), universities, Centers
for Disease Control, Glaxo Smith Kline, Sanofi-Aventis, WHO Headquarters
and PneumoADIP, all of whom recognized the need for surveillance
in the region. |
| TRAVEL GRANTS PROGRAM: EIGHTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON VACCINE RESEARCH |
The Eighth
Annual Conference on Vaccine Research will be held May 9 –
11, 2005, in Baltimore, Maryland. The largest scientific conference
devoted exclusively to vaccinology, it features both submitted abstracts
and invited presentations across many disciplines to encourage the
exchange of ideas and approaches for immunization against diverse
human and veterinary pathogens and conditions. The conference is
cosponsored by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID),
and 11 other national and international agencies, institutes, and
organizations. |
| WHO/IVB TO SPONSOR PNEUMOADIP INVESTIGATORS' MEETING |
| Dhaka, Bangladesh, January 17-18, 2005 – The World Health Organization’s Immunizations, Vaccines and Biologicals division will sponsor the second PneumoADIP Investigators’ Meeting: Surveillance of Laboratory-Confirmed Pneumococcal Disease here at the BRAC Center. The meeting will bring together pneumococcal disease surveillance investigators supported by PneumoADIP in order to build support between networks and to share best practices. Meeting participants will review progress in each surveillance network since September 2003 and will assess the comparability of data collected by different networks. They will discuss future directions for networks and collaborators. PneumoADIP is looking forward to this time for its investigators to reflect on all that they have accomplished so far and on the future direction of the networks. |
| GAVI TO REQUEST PROPOSALS FOR HIB TEAM |
| Recognizing the challenges developing countries are facing in making decisions about whether to introduce Haemophilus influenzae Type b (Hib) vaccination and how to maintain it once it has been introduced, the Board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization have decided to create and support a team dedicated to filling the information gaps. The team would somewhat resemble an ADIP, but for an already available vaccine. Early in 2005 the GAVI Board will issue a request for proposals to establish this team; a funding ceiling of $37 million over 4 to 5 years has been decided. |