Importantly, the interest in combating pandemic influenza at national and regional levels, with the assistance of WHO grants to stimulate local production, has resulted in a variety of indigenous financing mechanisms

that will dramatically improve the supply of influenza vaccines in the future. Moreover, interest in influenza seems to have rekindled interest in the local production of essential vaccines in several countries. This could have a major impact on the future health of populations in these countries. Conflict of Interest Statement: The authors state they have no conflict of interest. “
“Due to the increasing number of human deaths since 2004 during the regional expansion in Asia of the H5N1 influenza strain, concern was high that this virus would become transmissible between humans. Indeed, many articles by prominent scientists and public health officials warned that this virus could Crizotinib in vitro cause a devastating pandemic resulting in high mortality. In response, the United States published the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza [1], followed by an

HHS implementation plan [2], both of which stated a clear commitment to supporting international pandemic preparedness. Diseases do not respect national borders so increasing the capacity to make and use influenza vaccines in more countries can help every country reduce the spread of the influenza virus. The US government included a commitment in its strategy to implement the World Health old BAY 73-4506 clinical trial Assembly resolution WHA58.5 which specifically called for increased influenza vaccine manufacturing capacity in developing countries. In Vietnam, in particular, concern was high that the close connection between backyard poultry kept by a large percentage of the population and limited rural medical infrastructure would produce ideal conditions for development of a “bird flu” pandemic. Thus, initial efforts at vaccine capacity-building took the form of an HHS grant to the state-owned company in Hanoi, VABIOTECH, to enhance its capacity to produce influenza vaccine produced under current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP). Further international support followed as a component

of legislation that appropriated funding through the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund [3]. This funding has been made available on a regular basis from 2005 to 2011. Such capacity building activities were noted recently as one of seven prioritized to support global pandemic preparedness [4]. BARDA realized that support and maintenance of bilateral cooperative agreements with developing countries and their varying relationships would require a level of personnel beyond its capacity. Given that WHO was specifically coordinating an initiative to support influenza vaccine capacity-building as a component of the 2006 The Global Action Plan (GAP) to increase supply of pandemic influenza vaccines (http://www.who.int/vaccines-documents/DocsPDF06/863.