A Global Road Map Is Needed For Vaccine Research, Development, And Deployment

The world is witnessing a tremendous interest in the discovery, development, and use of vaccines as an important contributor to disease prevention and control. However, current global vaccine efforts are not coordinated, and they face many challenges. One is scientific: Most vaccines in use today are based on the scientific knowledge of past centuries. To usher in a new era, there is an urgent need to draw upon new science and scientific disciplines and recruit a new generation of talent trained in the basic and computational sciences of the twenty-first century. In addition, a global road map is urgently needed for making the scientific discoveries necessary to produce new vaccines; developing these into effective vaccines; and drawing up priorities and undertaking the necessary planning for rolling out these vaccines in developing countries. The developing countries themselves must play the lead role in these activities and contribute their own resources as well. This article aims to initiate a wide-ranging debate and discussion that will ultimately result in some agreement on the future of vaccine development and deployment.