International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and the World Society for Virology (WSV), a nonprofit organization connecting virologists worldwide, exchanged a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish collaboration between the two organizations in strengthening virology research, encouraging capacity building for virologists around the world, and promoting the wide availability of safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for people in low- and middle-income countries.
As we have seen in the recent outbreak of, and response to, the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19, international cooperation across scientific disciplines is crucial for global health and security.
“Closer collaboration between virology societies and increased access to research and education will support global health and humanitarian initiatives, including vaccine R&D and delivery to countries with significant disease burden,” said Dr. Jerome Kim, Director General of IVI.
WSV is a global coalition of virologists that strongly supports the One Health approach, and helps virologists develop and improve collaboration, education, and guidance. The premise of WSV is that the technology now exists to allow the establishment and maintenance of an international virology society without limitation of border, ethnicity, or resource. Source
Future collaboration between IVI and WSV may include co-organizing a vaccinology workshop in the African region to gather and train professionals in the virology and vaccine fields, and expanding the Virologists network while encouraging the exchange of information.
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