The Dangerous Decline in the United States Military's Infectious Disease Vaccine Program

Abstract

For over 230 years, vaccines advanced by the United States (US) military research and development (R and D) community have dramatically reduced the impact of naturally-acquired infections not only on America's armed forces but society at large. In recent years, however, the military's infectious disease vaccine program has lost considerable emphasis, funding and mission capability. With the burgeoning concern for weaponized bio-agents in Iraq and North Korea in the 1990s, Congress turned its attention to combating biological threats of deliberate origin over those of natural causes. The Department of Defense (DOD) responded by partitioning its biodefense and infectious disease vaccine acquisition programs, with biodefense vaccines holding a higher acquisition priority and receiving more robust funding than infectious disease vaccines. The result has been a significant erosion of the DOD's ability to ensure the acquisition and availability. This paper will argue that the DOD needs to take swift actions to revitalize its infectious disease vaccine program and enhance the synergy between biodefense and infectious disease activities in order to resolve vaccine acquisition and availability shortfalls.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 17, 2010
Accession Number
AD1018581

Entities

People

  • Kenneth E. Hall

Organizations

  • Air War College

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Disease Outbreaks
  • Health Services
  • Hiv Infections
  • Hygiene
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Intellectual Property
  • International Organizations
  • Medical Personnel
  • National Security
  • United States
  • Vaccines
  • Viruses
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare
  • Zoonoses

Readers

  • Critical Infrastructure Protection in CBRN and WMD Threats.
  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Immunology

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology