WHO consultation on needs and opportunities for SARS vaccine research and development

31 October-1 November 2003

Introduction

Joy Phumaphi, Assistant Director-General for Family and Community Health, welcomed the participants and stressed the importance of the consultation as part of WHO’s overall efforts to prepare for a possible return of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, Director of the WHO Initiative for Vaccine Research, offered introductory comments and summarized the meeting objectives and anticipated outcomes. She stressed the need for standardized protocols and reagents critical for vaccine development, for a better understanding of the SARS CoV antigenic and genetic diversity, and for further development of animal models that could facilitate SARS vaccine development and evaluation.

Dr John Mackenzie summarized the recommendations made from two recent related WHO meetings that focused on research needs for SARS and on laboratory diagnostic issues.

Dr Angela Merianos provided an overview of the global SARS outbreak and summarized the epidemiology and public health response that facilitated its control.

Recommendations from a recent consultation on the clinical manifestations of SARS were not available at the time of this meeting, but were mentioned as relevant to these discussions, and WHO staff who had coordinated the clinical meeting were available throughout the discussions to assist as needed.