Polio Vaccine: The First 50 Years and Beyond June 5 - 7, 2005

Delegates of Polio Vaccine: The First 50 Years and Beyond, celebrated the 50th anniversary of Dr. Jonas Salk’s announcement of an effective vaccine against polio by officially honouring many of the struggle’s pioneering scientists, regulators and manufacturers.

Canadian leadership in many areas was also praised, including that of Ontario March of Dimes.

Ontario's Lieutenant Governor, The Honourable James K. Bartleman, opened the conference with a reception at Queen’s Park for the delegates and leaders in the field.

The following evening, conference sponsor sanofi pasteur hosted a gala dinner and reception at the historic Connaught Campus, paying tribute to Mr. Frank Shimada, Dr. Paul Austin, Dr. John Furesz, and Dr. Stanley Plotkin for their work with polio vaccines.

Tribute was also paid to Dr. Hilary Koprowski, the creator of the first successful polio vaccine in 1950, and to “Canadians working on global eradication through the United Nations and its partners.”

The Hon. Dr. Marie Bountrogianni, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Ontario, was an honoured guest speaker and awards presenter at the reception.

In addition, Ontario March of Dimes was pleased to commemorate the occasion by bestowing its own honours. OMOD awarded the 11th annual Jonas Salk Award to Dr. Carol L. Richards, a Quebec physiotherapist internationally recognized for her work in the rehabilitation of walking disabilities (read the full release).

Sessions at the conference examined both the earliest and the latest science on the poliovirus and vaccines, as well as the status of the current global eradication initiative. Experts discussed vaccine production, stockpiling in the event of future polio outbreaks, and debated the need to continue immunization after a country is certified free of polio.

Dr. Bruce Aylward, Coordinator of the Polio Eradication Initiative of the World Health Organization, even predicted eradication around the world within a year, providing sufficient funds are dedicated to the effort.

"We all share the same vision of a polio-free world and we are reconfirming our commitment at this conference," said Dr. John Petricciani, President, International Association for Biologicals.

Ontario March of Dimes organized the three-day conference on behalf of International Association for Biologicals and its co-sponsors World Health Organization, Health Canada and Public Health Agency of Canada, Industry Canada, Polio Canada and sanofi pasteur.

• IABs_summary.pdf (172 KB file ) by Dr. David Wood of the World Health Organization, including conclusions and next steps
  
  
• Read the full address of The Hon. Dr. Marie Bountrogianni

From left to right: Shirley Ernstberger, Dr. Chris Rutty, Andria Spindel, Dr. Luis Barreto, Dr. Philip Minor, Dr. Rob Van Exan, Dr. David Wood, Dr. Hans Kreeftenberg, Helen Gurlesky, Dr. Ian Gemmill, Dr. Elwyn Griffiths, Dr. Michel Duchene.

From left to right: Mark Lievonen (President, sanofi pasteur), Hon. Dr. Marie Bountrogianni (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Ontario), Dr. Paul Austin (honouree), Mr. Frank Shimada (honouree), Dr. Stanley Plotkin (honouree), Dr. Hilary Koprowski (honouree), Dr. John Furesz (honouree), Dr. Luis Barreto (sanofi pasteur).

Back row, left to right: Dr. Carol Richards, Toronto Deputy Mayor Mike Feldman, Hon. Monte Kwinter (MPP, Ontario), Dr. Stanley Plotkin, Frank Shimada, Dr. Paul Austin, Dr. John Furesz, Dr. Hilary Koprowski, Hon. Carolyn Bennett (MP), Dr. David Boyle Front row, left to right: Andria Spindel, Dr. Luis Barreto, Mark Lievonen, Dr. Bruce Aylward, David Onley.

David Onley (CityTV), the gracious Master of Ceremonies.

More on polio in Canada and around the world

• Ministers.pdf (291 KB file ) of Canadian Ministers Ujjal Dosanjh and Carolyn Bennett on Canada’s role in 50th Anniversary of the Polio Vaccine
  
  
• The Global Polio Eradication Inititative
  
  
• Fact sheet on polio eradication from the World Health Organization
  
  
• Polio - 50 Years Later, an exhibit of the Canadian Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, details the history of the disease and the agencies working to eradicate it today
  
  
• Government of Canada Announces Increased Funding to Support the Global Polio Eradication Initiative
  

Contact
For more information, contact us at:

Tel: 416-425-DIME (3463), ext. 390
Toll-free: 1-800-263-DIME (3463), ext. 390
Fax: 416-425-1802
E-mail: iabspolio@dimes.on.ca.

Learn more about the International Association for Biologicals at www.iabs.org