Stanley O. Foster on "Public Private Partnerships in Global Immunization: Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and Partners" presented on September 17, 2013 from 4:30 pm- 5:30 pm in Klaus Classroom 1447.

An estimated 2.5 million children under five die from disease preventable by immunization. While significant progress has been made since the WHO Expanded Program of Immunization began in 1972, biomedical, biophysical, and operational research have developed new vaccines for Pneumonia, Meningitis A, rotavirus, and Human Papilloma Virus. Led by GAVI, public private partnerships are opening new channels for vaccine development, vaccine production, and program implementation for low resource countries.

Bio: After graduating from Williams College (1955) and the University of Rochester School of Medicine (1960), I spent two years as a CDC Epidemic Intelligence (EIS) Officer assigned to the Indian Health Service in Arizona. In addition to my main responsibility for examining 10,000 school children per year for trachoma (25% were positive), I had the opportunity to investigate other health emergencies as they arose: Plague, Rabies, Measles, Shigella, Food Poisoning, Kerato Conjunctivitis (Philadelphia, Talequah Oklahoma, and La Paz Bolivia), Diabetes in Pima Indians, and Rotavirus in the Truck Islands in the South Pacific. In 1966, I was invited to join CDCs new Smallpox Eradication Program. Our family spent 4 years in Nigeria (1966-1970) and 4 years in Bangladesh (1972-1976) working with national health workers to eradicate smallpox. In 1977, I spent three months living with nomads in Somalia (the last smallpox epidemic country in the world). Smallpox was eradicated from the world in 1979. From 1980 to 1994, I worked with the International Health Program Office at CDC in its Combating Childhood Communicable Disease Project (CCCD). We worked with 10 African countries to improve the health and survival of children under 5 through strengthening their capacity to prevent and treat diseases. We focused on prevention (immunization, malaria chemoprophylaxis of women); case management of the three priority killers of children (malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea); communicating health behaviors, strengthening health information systems; and operations research. During this period, I taught management and policy at the emerging School of Public Health. I joined the Global Health Faculty in 1994 where I have taught GH501 (Global Policy; Priorities, Policies, Programs; and most recently Global Health Challenges and Opportunities) in the fall; GH572 - Community Transformation in the winter; and Evidence Based Strategic Planning (a case study of Oromia Region in Ethiopia) in the spring. On April 17, 2013 I gave my Last Lecture (50 Years of Public Health, Lessons Learned, and Visions for the Future). I am grateful to all that make up the Rollins School of Public Health and the Hubert Department of Global Health for the opportunity to partner with learners, staff, and faculty in developing the next generation of global health leaders.