October 21, 2022, SEOUL, Republic of Korea — The International Vaccine Institute (IVI), an international organization with a mission to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global health, held its annual State Forum in Seoul yesterday, bringing together representatives from IVI’s state parties and other partner countries. This year’s forum focused on the formation of its Global Council, a new advisory body composed of state party representatives to encourage a more inclusive and responsive governance structure at IVI.
Credit: IVI
October 21, 2022, SEOUL, Republic of Korea — The International Vaccine Institute (IVI), an international organization with a mission to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global health, held its annual State Forum in Seoul yesterday, bringing together representatives from IVI’s state parties and other partner countries. This year’s forum focused on the formation of its Global Council, a new advisory body composed of state party representatives to encourage a more inclusive and responsive governance structure at IVI.
The Global Council will be a platform for IVI’s state parties and other key stakeholders to discuss needs and solutions for vaccine R&D and implementation, vaccine equity and access, and capacity-building at global, regional, and national levels. The council is set to officially launch in 2023 and two elected members from non-funding state parties will hold seats on IVI’s Board of Trustees.
Dr. Jerome Kim, Director General of IVI, said: “We are grateful to IVI’s state party representatives for voicing their support and enthusiasm for the creation of an IVI Global Council. As IVI grows into the full stature of a true international organization, the Global Council along with the newly formed Global Advisory Group of Experts will help IVI expand in size, scope, and geographic footprint responsibly and sustainably.”
During the State Forum, Dr. Kim also advocated for the addition of leptospirosis to the World Health Organization’s list of Neglected Tropical Diseases. He said, “Adding leptospirosis to the WHO’s list of NTDs will bring more awareness and action to a severely under-recognized infectious disease with significant global burden. IVI strongly encourages its state party representatives to mobilize around this issue at the World Health Assembly next year.”
Following the State Forum, IVI hosted a celebratory dinner in recognition of its 25th Anniversary. Since its founding in 1997 as an international organization at the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme, IVI has developed two safe, effective, and affordable vaccines against cholera and typhoid for global public use. With 22 countries and the WHO as members to its treaty, IVI currently leads research collaborations in 44 countries worldwide with vaccine candidates for 9 different infectious diseases in clinical trials.
Over 130 stakeholders from the Korean government, including Dr. Hyun Young Shin, a member of the Republic of Korea’s National Assembly, industry, academia, and the diplomatic community attended the celebratory dinner, and IVI honored four key figures in IVI’s establishment with the inaugural IVI Founders Medal:
- Prof. Wan Kyoo Cho, former President of Seoul National University and Executive Advisor to the Korea Support Committee for IVI
- Prof. Barry Bloom, former Dean of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Chairperson of IVI’s founding Board of Trustees
- Prof. Sang-Dai Park, Emeritus Professor of Seoul National University and Chief Advisor to the Korea Support Committee for IVI
- Prof. Seung Il Shin, Advisor to the Korea Support Committee for IVI
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About the International Vaccine Institute (IVI)
The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) is a non-profit international organization established in 1997 at the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme with a mission to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global health.
IVI’s current portfolio includes vaccines at all stages of pre-clinical and clinical development for infectious diseases that disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries, such as cholera, typhoid, chikungunya, shigella, salmonella, schistosomiasis, hepatitis E, HPV, COVID-19, and more. IVI developed the world’s first low-cost oral cholera vaccine, pre-qualified by the World Health Organization (WHO), and developed a new-generation typhoid conjugate vaccine that is currently under assessment for WHO PQ.
IVI is headquartered in Seoul, Republic of Korea with a Europe Regional Office in Sweden and Collaborating Centers in Ghana, Ethiopia, and Madagascar. 39 countries and the WHO are members of IVI, and the governments of the Republic of Korea, Sweden, India, and Finland provide state funding. For more information, please visit https://www.ivi.int.
CONTACT
Aerie Em, Global Communications & Media Specialist
+82 2 881 1386 | [email protected]