Health Affairs Blog: Seasonal Influenza Vaccination: A Tool To Advance Epidemic And Pandemic Preparedness In Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Joseph Bresee, associate director of global health affairs at the CDC’s Influenza Division, director of the Partnership for Influenza Vaccine Introduction (PIVI), and lead for the Global Funders Consortium for Universal Influenza Vaccine Development, and Marie Paule Kieny, director of research at Inserm, chair of the board of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative and of the Medicines Patent Pool Foundation, board member of the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership and of the Human Vaccine Project, and non-executive independent director of bioMérieux, discuss how seasonal influenza vaccination may be used as a tool to advance epidemic and pandemic preparedness, as well as describe investments in pandemic vaccine preparedness and challenges low- and middle-income countries face in implementing influenza vaccination programs. The authors note, “[B]uilding programs that can effectively deploy lifesaving vaccines when needed requires attention in parallel with the development of new and improved vaccines. Both work streams will take years, and neither will deliver the benefits they promise without the other” (6/7).