Immunization: a global challenge for the 21st Century

Abstract

The 9th Canadian Immunization Conference was held on 5–8 December 2010 in Quebec City, Canada. Over 1000 academic, public health and vaccine industry scientists, nurses, pharmacists, physicians and policy makers attended the conference, which was organized by the Public Health Agency of Canada–Centre for Immunization Research and Respiratory Infectious Diseases in collaboration with the Canadian Association of Immunization Research and Evaluation, the Canadian Paediatric Society and the Canadian Public Health Association. Fresh from the pandemic influenza A H1N1 2009–2010 experience, in which Canada experienced a smaller Spring 2009 wave followed by a Fall wave that stretched public health prevention and healthcare system resources, conference attendees were given the chance to reflect on lessons from the perspective of communication strategies, vaccine effectiveness, safety and program delivery techniques, in one of six program streams devoted to H1N1. The five other streams were immunization in a global community, vaccine safety, new technologies, vaccine-specific issues and clinical practice. In this article, we summarize some of the key presentations from the six plenary sessions, 36 concurrent symposia and workshops, podium and poster presentations.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Joanne M Langley serves as the chair of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, which advises the Public Health Agency of Canada on vaccine use in Canadians from 2007–2011, and has received funding for research from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the following vaccine manufacturers: GlaxoSmithKline, Dymaxion, Sanofi-Pasteur, Novartis and Wyeth. Monika Naus serves as the provincial-territorial co-chair of the Canadian Immunization Committee, which oversees a variety of supporting activities in immunization programs including the development of statements for provincial/territorial consideration in decision-making related to new vaccines in Canada. She is involved in such decision-making in BC, Canada. She has received funding for research from the BC Immunization Committee but declines funding from the vaccine industry. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.