Ladies and gentlemen,
I am honoured to be here to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the National Vaccine and Serum Institute and to open this year's Vaccine Development Forum organised by the China National Biotech Group.
We all know that vaccination is one of the most important public health interventions in history. In the lifespan of your esteemed institute, the world has seen vaccines developed against many major diseases such as polio and measles. It is thanks to vaccines that the world was able to eradicate smallpox and the Western Pacific Region was able to eliminate polio.
As we enter the 21st century, advances in biotechnology are helping us to develop new vaccines with unimaginable potential. The use of effective vaccines against malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis would be a crucial step in eliminating these diseases as global public health problems. Immunization could also help meet Millennium Development Goal 4 by reducing the mortality rates of children under five years old by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015.
China recently made global headlines by becoming the first country to complete clinical trials for the pandemic H1N1 vaccine and to start mass immunization against the pandemic. Behind the headlines, there are many other achievements that deserve mention.
China has been polio-free since 2000. The government has invested heavily in immunization, introducing many new antigens in 2007. The authorities are also committed to rolling out full coverage of hepatitis B vaccination for everyone under 15 years of age in the country.
As the number of new vaccines increases, there is a growing need for a systematic approach to ensure that vaccines are selected in a cost-effective way for inclusion in the national immunization program. There is also a need to think about using more combination vaccines to reduce the number of injections every child must receive.
At the same time, we need to expand thinking on immunization as targeting only young children to also include adolescents and adults. This is due to the increasing availability of vaccines targeting these groups, such as the Human Papilloma Virus (or HPV) vaccine and influenza vaccines. This, together with broad age-group campaigns for diseases like measles and hepatitis B, reinforces the need for new approaches to reach older populations.
Vaccinology is a science, but vaccination is about people. The way we introduce vaccines and how we explain their benefits and potential safety issues will have a big impact on public confidence in immunization. Good communications can only enhance technological and systemic advances.
Today is an important day for the institute, an occasion to reflect on China's accomplishments in the field of vaccines. But as the old Chinese proverb says, "Ninety miles is only half-way of a hundred-mile journey". So let us also take this opportunity to look ahead to the immense work that still needs to be done to avert more deaths from disease.
On this special day, I would like to congratulate you on passing an important milestone, and to wish you every success in meeting the challenges ahead.
Thank you.