Product development is planned and funded by vaccine companies, is federally regulated, and is carried out by a number of contractors from various places. But there is more than this. Yet such research is essential, given the many new vaccines emerging and the increasing scepticism of consumers. Over 50 top researchers have committed themselves to this alliance. Dr. Scheifele emphasized that supportive research is one of the planks of a Canadian National Immunization Strategy, and as such needs the support of LCDC and NACI in obtaining secure funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research.
Discussions are under way.
After the presentations on education and research there were some useful suggestions from the floor on further steps that could be taken. One such idea was to provide more bursaries so that students could attend conferences like this one, where they will learn much more than they do in the classroom. Another suggestion was to educate day care providers, who may be perceived as knowledgeable but may also be responsible for perpetuating false information about immunization. People who are old enough to remember the pre-vaccine days of dreaded childhood illnesses could be asked to tell their stories, to reinforce the value of preventing such illnesses. To address the issue of lack of clinical practice for nurses, one possibility would be for nurses to immunize each other, or their faculty members.