APRIL 2012
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| Dr. Ciro de Quadros Wins the BBVA Foundation Frontiers in Knowledge Award in Development Cooperation |
Dr. Ciro de Quadros, Sabin’s Executive Vice President, will receive the
prestigious BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Development
Cooperation for his work in eliminating polio and measles in the
Americas and eradicating smallpox worldwide. Dr. de Quadros heard news
of this honor on February 28 and will be awarded at a ceremony taking
place June 21 in Madrid. |
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| The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards have earned a place
among the world’s foremost and prestigious hallmarks of professional
excellence and recognize outstanding contributions and significant
advances in a broad range of scientific and technological areas.
The Development Cooperation award reflects Dr. de Quadros’ commitment
to working with UN agencies, governments, NGOs and academia to ensure
universal access to immunization. The BBVA selection jury noted that
through his work, the world is closer to achieving the millennium
development goal of reducing child mortality by two thirds by the year
2015.
To learn more about the BBVA awards and Dr. de Quadros’ numerous contributions to global health, read the full press release here.
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Candidate for First Human Hookworm Vaccine Entered Phase 1 Clinical Trial in Brazil |
On January 19, Sabin announced the start of vaccinations in a Phase 1 clinical trial of its Na-GST-1 antigen, a candidate to be the first licensed human hookworm vaccine. The trial is a major milestone for the Sabin Vaccine Institute Product Development Partnership’s (PDP)
work to develop a safe, efficacious and low-cost vaccine to reduce the
global burden of human hookworm, which infects nearly 600 million people
worldwide. |
In all, 102 adults between the ages of 18 and 45 will be enrolled in the trial, which is being conducted by a team based at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ) of the Brazilian Ministry of Health. |
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“This trial has the potential to revolutionize the control of
hookworm-related disease,” said David Diemert, M.D., of George
Washington University, the trial’s principal investigator. “Typically,
hookworm infection is treated by annual mass drug administration in pill
form to school-aged children in endemic countries. The pills can cure
current infections in children, but in heavily endemic areas, rapid
re-infection throughout a child’s life and into adulthood can occur. A
vaccine, in combination with drug treatment, would help to effectively
control and prevent hookworm infection.”
Established in 2000 with
funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and with
additional support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the
Brazilian Ministry of Health, the Sabin PDP is the first and only
program that aims to reduce the prevalence of human hookworm infection
through research and development, timely dissemination of results,
innovation and advocacy. To learn more about the clinical trial, read the full press release here. This press release from the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) describes the use of their GLA-AF adjuvant, a critical component of the Na-GST-1 vaccine being tested. |
END7 Campaign Launched to Eliminate Seven Diseases by 2020 |
| The END7
campaign, an awareness campaign dedicated to eliminating seven
neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as public health threats by the year
2020, was officially launched on January 10th. |
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Led by the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases (Global Network),
END7 is the first comprehensive campaign to raise public awareness of
all seven major NTDs. The campaign emphasizes the simple and
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affordable
solution to ending seven diseases. We can treat a person for all seven major NTDs for just 50 cents per person per year.
“Unlike many global health campaigns, END7 has an end in sight,”
said Dr. Neeraj Mistry, Managing Director of the Global Network. “With
enough support and donations, we believe we can end the plight of people
suffering from these diseases by the end of this decade.”
The campaign is managed through a Facebook hub developed in partnership with Wunderman UK to promote campaign videos, photographs, success stories and other multimedia —including ‘Our Mission in a Minute’ animation narrated by actor Bill Nighy.
END7 will continue to build momentum through celebrity and partner
engagement, social media, traditional media outreach and grassroots
support. To get involved in the END7 campaign, please visit END7 on Facebook.
Together we can see the end! |
The Global Network Celebrates the London Declaration, a Coordinated Effort to Fight NTDs |
On January 30, leaders from 13 pharmaceutical companies, governments
of the United States, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates, the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Health Organization (WHO), the
World Bank and other global health organizations gathered in London to
announce their support for eliminating 10 NTDs by 2020. The Global
Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases applauded the announcement,
which represents unprecedented collaboration to reach neglected
populations and to fight NTDs. The commitments mark a turning point in
global efforts to control and eliminate the seven NTDs that have been
targeted by the Global Network and its partners.
The
U.S. and U.K. governments, as well as major pharmaceutical companies
and global health NGOs, have made significant contributions to NTD
elimination since the 1970s, but the London Declaration marks the first
time a cohesive and integrated program has been announced to meet the
WHO’s goal of elimination by 2020.
The END7 campaign provides a critical link in this new approach to
fighting NTDs as a community of partners, rather than as disparate
groups, by encouraging the global health community and the general
public to work together to raise awareness and funding for NTD control.
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Dr. Ciro de Quadros appointed to Decade of Vaccines (DoV) Collaboration Leadership
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Sabin’s Executive Vice President, Dr. Ciro de Quadros, was appointed co-chair of the Decade of Vaccines (DoV) Collaboration Steering Committee on December 20, 2011.
The
vision of the DoV Collaboration is to extend the full benefits of
immunization to all people, regardless of where they live. Prior to
assuming his role as co-chair, Dr. de Quadros participated in the DoV
Collaboration as a member of the Steering Committee – the body of
experts responsible for developing the Global Vaccine Action Plan
(GVAP), which will be presented to the World Health Assembly in May. |
We'd also like to extend our congratulations to GAVI Alliance CEO, Seth
Berkley, who was appointed to the DoV Collaboration Leadership Council. |
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The full press release from the DoV Collaboration can be read here. |
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Dr. F. Marc LaForce to Receive 2012 Gold Medal Award
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The Sabin Vaccine Institute will honor the contributions of Dr. F. Marc
LaForce at the 2012 Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal Award Ceremony, to be
held next week on Monday, May 7, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Baltimore,
Maryland. |
From 2001 to 2012, Dr. LaForce served as the Director of the Meningitis
Vaccine Project (MVP), a partnership between PATH and the World Health
Organization funded by the Bill &
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Melinda Gates Foundation. Under the leadership of Dr. LaForce, MVP
developed a new vaccine for epidemic meningitis in Africa, at a cost of
less than 50 cents per dose. Since 2010, 55 million people in Africa
have been vaccinated with this vaccine.
For more information on the Gold Medal Award Ceremony, please click here.
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Vaccine Advocacy 2012: Regional Symposia Receive Worldwide Recognition
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So far this year Sabin’s Vaccine Advocacy program co-hosted two regional
symposia, the first highlighting measles, rubella and congenital
rubella syndrome (CRS) in Europe and the second to discuss meningococcal
disease in Latin America. The symposia garnered wide support from
meeting participants, regional media and global health leaders. Their
success is a testament to the many contributions Sabin is making to
global public health.
At the “Progress Towards Rubella Elimination and Congenital Rubella Syndrome (CRS) Prevention in Europe”
meeting held February in Rome, experts discussed ways to control and
reverse the growing problem of measles outbreaks and the continuous high
incidence of rubella in the European Region. The symposium was
recognized by global leaders, who applauded the meeting’s excellent
coordination as well as the timeliness of bringing rubella and CRS to
the attention of leading health professionals in Europe.
The First Regional Meningococcal Symposium,
convened by the Sabin Vaccine Institute and the Pan American Health
Organization, took place March 19 and 20 in Buenos Aires. It brought
together more than 150 researchers, vaccine experts, economists and
others to evaluate the extent and economic and human cost of
meningococcal disease and what obstacles impede its prevention through
vaccination. The meeting was the first of its kind to bring such a large
group of experts together to find solutions for an unrecognized health
problem in Latin America.
The meningococcal symposium closed with a press briefing on a new study,
which found significant healthcare costs associated with high rates of
meningococcal disease incidence and death. The resulting media coverage
in more than 12 countries in the Americas and Europe brought more much
needed attention to this disease.
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CaT Leads Meeting to Plan for Effective Typhoid Control
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Typhoid fever is a common disease that goes largely unnoticed in many
countries of Asia and Africa. “The disease”, said Chris Nelson, who
heads the Coalition against
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Typhoid (CaT) secretariat at the Sabin
Vaccine Institute “has become so omnipresent in the developing world as
to be invisible”.
In response, the Coalition against Typhoid (CaT)
recently organized an expert meeting to discuss epidemiologic models
that can be used to inform discussions on the control and prevention of
typhoid fever from January 25-26.
As has been done for influenza,
cholera and dengue fever, participants discussed models that can be
used to inform policy discussions at the global and national levels, and
held technical discussions on the most effective vaccination strategies
and the design and evaluation of clinical trials. These models can also
be used for cost-effectiveness analysis.
An article in the February edition of The Lancet also
reported on the broader effort to control typhoid fever and the issues
being faced by policymakers. The article includes interviews with
several CaT members including Jeremy Farrar, professor of Tropical
Medicine and director of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in
Vietnam, Chris Nelson, director of the CaT secretariat, Zulfiqar
Bhutta, founding chair of the Women and Child Health Division at the Aga
Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan, and Seth Berkley, CEO of the GAVI
Alliance. The Lancet article can be viewed here.
You can read more about the Coalition against Typhoid on CaT’s new website www.coalitionagainsttyphoid.org.
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Progress for Sustainable Immunization Financing in Sierra Leone
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In November 2011, the Sabin Vaccine Institute Sustainable Immunization Financing (SIF)
program organized meetings with district-level policy makers in Sierra
Leone to strengthen the country’s Advocacy Program for Sustainable
Immunization Financing. These meetings were proposed by the Sierra
Leonean delegates who attended the Sabin Colloquium on Sustainable Immunization Financing in Addis Ababa last March.
Sierra
Leone’s Advocacy Program for Sustainable Immunization Financing was
launched soon after the government introduced its decentralization
program. For the health sector, this entailed the decentralization of
administrative, fiscal, and programmatic responsibilities to the 13
districts, focusing on the District Councils and District Health
Management Teams (DHMTs). This also meant that key decisions pertaining
to allocation of funds were now to be made at the district level.
“As
countries like Sierra Leone decentralize, immunization is often the
first health program the subnational governments tackle. Most of the
operating funds come from the national level. But the districts have to
make up their own budgets and be sure the funds are well spent. This is
one way Sabin helps countries build capacity”, commented Mike
McQuestion, SIF Program Director.
Fifty-six participants from all
the District/City Councils and DHMTs attend two separate meetings.
Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Health Committee, Hon. Eric Borbor
Jumu, who chaired the meetings, emphasized the need for collective
action to achieve sustainable immunization financing, especially amongst
the three key stakeholders, namely Parliament, the Ministry of Health
and the Ministry of Finance.
These meetings continue Sierra
Leone’s efforts to achieve sustainable immunization financing.
Participants pledged to take the message back to their various districts
and ensure that the recommendations are implemented. The Sabin Vaccine
Institute’s SIF Program will continue supporting the districts in
achieving this goal in Sierra Leone. |
President John A. Kufuor Appointed Advocate for Neglected Tropical Disease Control
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On April 17, the Global Network announced President John A. Kufuor as the organization’s new neglected tropical disease (NTD) Special Envoy. As the Global Network’s NTD Special Envoy, Kufuor will travel internationally to educate donor governments on the global NTD burden and the impact of treatment and research.
“Controlling NTDs is a major factor in improving health systems and reducing poverty in endemic countries,” said Kufuor. “I am delighted to apply my experience in improving health, nutrition, and food security programs in Africa to work with governments around the world to increase the funding and public awareness necessary to eliminate these devastating diseases.”
The collaboration was announced at a luncheon hosted by the Global Network and the African Union to honor the former Ghanian president for his political and humanitarian achievements in Africa and throughout the world.
Read the press release here.
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Burundi Launches National Plan to Combat NTDs
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On March 1st, Burundi
became the first francophone country in the region to officially launch an
integrated national plan to combat NTDs. The announcement showcases Burundi as
a leader in the fight against NTDs, demonstrating that NTD control and
elimination is an issue of national importance requiring immediate attention.
Burundi’s five-year plan will increase the prestige and sustainability of its
existing NTD elimination programs, as well as promote NTD awareness and
partnerships in the country. The Global Network congratulates the Burundian
government for this latest effort to control and eliminate NTDs.
The Burundi national plan represents
an important step towards country ownership of NTD control and elimination. In 2007, The
Legatum Foundation, the granting arm of the Legatum Group, laid
the foundation for this success by committing $8.2 million (USD) for NTD
control in Rwanda and Burundi. In Burundi,
this funding helped the Ministry of Health and partners such as the Global
Network, Geneva Global, the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI) and CBM establish
integrated NTD control and elimination programs.
Since then, more than 31 million
safe and effective NTD treatments have been distributed to more than 5 million
people in Burundi through coordinated mass drug administration (MDA)
programs.
See the full
press release to learn more.
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General T.Y. Danjuma Visits Washington D.C.
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On February 28th, the
Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases was honored to participate in a panel
discussion with General T.Y. Danjuma, chairman of the TY Danjuma Foundation and a
widely respected Nigerian philanthropist, which focused on emerging African
leadership in the fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).
General Danjuma is at the forefront of a new philanthropic
movement where Africans are helping fellow Africans. The Center for Strategic
& International Studies (CSIS) hosted the event, and General Danjuma, along
with representatives from the World
Bank, the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Network, discussed how this kind of
emerging African leadership will help make NTD elimination possible.
General Danjuma spoke about his experiences rallying African
governments and development organizations to support the continuation of the African Programme for
Onchocerciasis Control (APOC), which led to large contributions from
Nigerian officials and from the Nigerian government. Despite the fact that
President Obama’s fiscal year 2012 budget request proposed a 24 percent
reduction to NTD control and elimination efforts, the financial commitments
made by African leaders and at the London
Declaration signify that there is momentum to eliminate NTDs.
The full event can be viewed here. |
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Sabin would like to welcome the newest additions to our team |
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Cheryl Basile – Senior Program Officer, Quality Assurance
and Regulatory, Vaccine Development
Alice Nader – Program Coordinator, Sustainable Immunization
Financing
Kay Ericson – Resource Development Coordinator, Global
Network
Caitlin Garlow – Communications Associate
Anupama Tantri – Senior Program Officer, Asia Regional Lead,
Global Network
Michael Iacobelli – Program Coordinator, Vaccine Development
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Also Inside:
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Candidate for First Human Hookworm Vaccine Entered Phase 1 Clinical Trial in Brazil
END7 Campaign Launched to Eliminate Seven Diseases by 2020
The Global Network Celebrates the London Declaration, a Coordinated Effort to Fight NTDs
Dr. Ciro de Quadros appointed to Decade of Vaccines (DoV) Collaboration Leadership
Dr. F. Marc LaForce to Receive 2012 Gold Medal Award
Vaccine Advocacy 2012: Regional Symposia Receive Worldwide Recognition
CaT Leads Meeting to Plan for Effective Typhoid Control
Progress for Sustainable Immunization Financing in Sierra Leone
President John A. Kufuor Appointed Advocate for NTD Control
Burundi Launches National Plan to Combat NTDs
General T.Y. Danjuma Visits Washington D.C.
New to Our Team
Sabin prepares for DC Hookworm Vaccine Trial
The Sabin Vaccine Institute PDP has started recruiting healthy adult volunteers for a Washington DC-based Phase 1 clinical trial of its Na-GST-1 hookworm vaccine. Together with the ongoing clinical trial in Brazil, this study will help to rapidly determine the optimal vaccine formulation for future clinical testing. Sabin, George Washington University and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at Children's National Medical Center are funding the trial. Vaccinations will begin next month.
The Global Network Launches a New Website
The Global Network recently underwent an Extreme Makeover: Website Edition. We updated the logo, look, feel and navigation of the site. More importantly, we changed the focus of the website. Visitors can look at compelling pictures and videos of our work, read about NTDs through interactive fact sheets and learn how they can become a part of the NTD elimination movement. They can also read about the latest in global health policy and news. We invite you to take a look for yourself!
Also, check back later this year as we re-vamp Sabin.org.
Sabin Holds First Vaccinology Course in Peru
In December 2011, Sabin and the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia held the “First Vaccinology Course for Latin America” in Lima, Peru. Immunization stakeholders met with leading experts in the field of vaccinology to discuss current global and regional vaccines and vaccination guidelines. A media training exercise helped participants with little public relations experience feel more confident in dealing with the media.
The Second Vaccinology Course for Latin America is scheduled to be held Nov. 26-30, 2012, also in Lima.
Dr. Peter Hotez's ASTMH Outgoing President's Message
In December 2011, Dr. Peter Hotez completed his tenure as president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH). Great progress was made in tropical medicine in 2011, including the completion of a successful phase III clinical trial of the RTS,S malaria vaccine and a sharp reduction in early childhood deaths. Read more about this year's successes in Dr. Hotez's outgoing president’s message.
Miss Universe joins END7 campaign
Be sure to visit the END7 page
frequently to see the latest videos and celebrity promotions, including a video featuring Miss Universe Leila
Lopes on END7 and NTDs in her home country of Angola.
Sabin in the News
Dr. Peter Hotez
contributed five articles to the Huffington
Post, most recently a piece called “The 8 Cent Solution to Improving Women's Health in Africa.”
More than 50 news
outlets from around the world congratulated Dr. Ciro de Quadros on his
Frontiers of Knowledge award, including one of Spain’s top newspapers, El Pais.
Sabin programs, including END7, were featured in two pieces in Forbes.
Ten articles featuring interviews with Drs. Neeraj Mistry and Peter Hotez appeared in Voice of America and three articles appeared on AllAfrica.com.
The launch of the END7 campaign generated significant media coverage, including articles in PR Week, Campaign, TwitChange and Nature Medicine.
Drs. Peter Hotez, Neeraj Mistry and Chris Nelson wrote op-eds for The Atlantic.
Dr. Hotez was interviewed for a piece in The Economist about the London Declaration.
Dr. Ciro de Quadros co-authored a guest blog post about reemerging dengue cases in the United States for the well-read ONE Campaign blog.
The April issue of Scientific American features an extensive profile on Dr. Albert B. Sabin and his historic leading role in eradicating polio in many regions of the world.
Recent Scientific Articles and Panel Discussions
Dr. de Quadros and Hotez were featured in a Vaccine special supplement that highlighted discussions and research presented at the historic
symposium “Smallpox Eradication after 30 Years: Lessons, Legacies and
Innovations.”
Dr. Peter Hotez published four articles in the Public Library of Science (PLOS) Neglected Tropical Diseases “Neglected Tropical Diseases and the 2012 US Presidential Election,” “An Interfaith Dialogue on the Neglected Tropical Diseases” “Neglected Tropical Diseases of the Middle East and North Africa: Review of Their Prevalence, Distribution, and Opportunities for Control” and "Texas and Mexico: Sharing a Legacy of Poverty and Neglected Tropical Diseases".
Drs. Ciro de Quadros and Peter Hotez participated in panel discussions at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) annual meeting in December.
In January Baroness Helene Hayman, a member of the Sabin Board, spoke at the House of Lords on NTDs. View her speech here.
Dr. Neeraj Mistry participated in a panel discussion at the World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany titled “Opportunities for Linking NTD Control with Control of AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria”.
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