DAI Global Health Joins CEPI Partners Forum

April 20, 2017

DAI Global Health has joined the Partners Forum of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), an alliance to promote vaccine development as part of the effort to prevent and respond to pandemic threats.

CEPI, funded by the Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust, European Commission, and the governments of Japan, Germany, and Norway, is a partnership between governments, industry, academia, philanthropy, intergovernmental institutions, such as the World Health Organization, and civil society.

CEPI focuses on ensuring vaccine development gets the financing required for research and testing. “New vaccines could prevent deadly infectious diseases that have epidemic potential from becoming global health emergencies. But the vaccines we need aren’t being developed often enough or quickly enough,” reads the CEPI mission. “CEPI will overcome these barriers with a new model for funding vaccine developments against epidemic diseases. This will contribute to the health security the world needs.”

The purpose of the Partners Forum is to have an open platform for all organizations that work within the end-to-end scope of vaccine development, and to provide a model for engagement, early collaboration with CEPI and expression of support. The forum will be virtual, but likely complemented with annual or biannual meetings that take place in conjunction with other CEPI events. Membership is open to organizations willing to endorse CEPI’s mission.

“Joining the CEPI Partners Forum will help link our field-level work on emerging pandemic threats in Africa and Asia to cutting-edge research on vaccines that target these diseases,” according to Jerry Martin, Senior Director for Global Health Security. DAI Global Health is a leader in supporting governments to integrate human and animal health professionals and services to detect, prevent and respond to pandemic threats. It currently implements the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Preparedness and Response project in 16 countries.