European Union research strategies on vaccines.

Vaccination presents one of the most cost-effective approaches to the majority of infectious diseases showing strong reductions in public health costs. Vaccination led to the eradication of smallpox, and we are moving now close to eradicating polio. Vaccines might also serve as therapeutic agents against diseases such as herpes and novel molecular biology techniques could provide possibilities for the development of new vaccines against cancer. However, despite the tremendous progress in preventing infectious diseases by vaccination, these diseases still account for 17 million of the 50 million deaths in the world each year. In economic terms, European private and public institutions led the world in introducing vaccines and currently provide over 65% of the vaccine volume supplied to developing countries. Aware of its increasing responsibilities in promoting research and public health and of the challenges posed by the reorganization of the world market, the European Commission has launched a series of initiatives in vaccine research and development to encourage cooperation between European industry, public institutions and academia and to support common research projects to the benefit of every Member State and the Community as a whole.