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Global Health

Restoring Vaccine Diplomacy

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To identify the key insights or developments described in this article

1 Credit CME

JAMA

Published Online: May 28, 2021

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Article Information and Disclosures

Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD^1,2;

K. M. Venkat Narayan, MD³

Author Affiliations

¹Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston
²Department of Molecular Virology & Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston
³Hubert Department of Global Health and Department of Epidemiology, Emory Rollins School of Public Health, Department of Medicine, Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia

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More than 60 years ago, the US and the USSR, while in the midst of the Cold War, collaborated to produce and scale a new oral polio vaccine and test it on millions of Soviet schoolchildren. The 3 poliovirus strains suitable for vaccine production were first developed in the laboratory of Albert Sabin and were sent (with US government approval) to the USSR, where Sabin then worked with Soviet science counterparts, including Mikhail Chumakov. These studies paved the way for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Later, in the 1960s, the USSR refined a technique for freeze-drying the smallpox vaccine, making it possible to deliver it intact to remote tropical areas. This innovation helped D.A. Henderson, a US epidemiologist, to lead a global smallpox eradication campaign under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO). In both cases, 2 political enemies put aside their differences to collaborate on solving great public health or pandemic threats.¹ Both achievements helped to ignite a modern international framework of vaccine diplomacy for promoting scientific collaboration for vaccine development and ensuring vaccine equity.

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Article Information

Corresponding Authors: Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030 (hotez@bcm.edu); K. M. Venkat Narayan, MD,1518 Clifton Rd NE, Atlanta, GA 30322 (knaraya@emory.edu).

Published Online: May 28, 2021. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.7439

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Hotez reported being a developer of vaccines against COVID-19 and other coronaviruses as well as neglected tropical diseases, including Chagas disease, hookworm, schistotomiasis, and leishmaniasis, in which the vaccine technology is owned by Baylor College of Medicine and nonexclusively licensed to Biological E, one of India’s big vaccine manufacturers, that are either in development or clinical trials, for which he has not received compensation or remuneration. Dr Narayan was partly supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (award numbers P30DK111024 and 3P30DK111024-05S1).

Disclaimer: The content of this article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

References

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Hotez PJ . Anti-science kills: from Soviet embrace of pseudoscience to accelerated attacks on US biomedicine. PLoS Biol. 2021;19(1):e3001068. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3001068 PubMed Google Scholar

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AMA CME Accreditation Information

Credit Designation Statement: The American Medical Association designates this Journal-based CME activity activity for a maximum of 1.00  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to:

1.00 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;;
1.00 Self-Assessment points in the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s (ABOHNS) Continuing Certification program;
1.00 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;
1.00 Lifelong Learning points in the American Board of Pathology’s (ABPath) Continuing Certification program; and
1.00 credit toward the CME [and Self-Assessment requirements] of the American Board of Surgery’s Continuous Certification program

It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting MOC credit.