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by Erhard Geissler (Editor), John P. Woodall (Editor)
Dual-threat agents (DTAs) are those viruses, bacteria, fungi, and toxins which are not only natural enemies of living organisms but which can be deliberately used for hostile purposes as biological or toxin weapon agents. The development, production, and use of vaccines are the primary measures needed to prevent DTA-related diseases and intoxinations. However, the development and production of vaccines against DTAs are more or less restricted to military programs, and this frequently raises suspicions about possible offensive intentions. To counter such reservations, a proposal has been made to establish a Vaccines for Peace (VFP) program, an international program for the development and use of vaccines against DTAs, to be administered by the World Health Organization in close cooperation with the Program for Vaccine Development. This book provides a thorough and wide-ranging analysis of the VFP program. It contains contributions from a range of experts from fields as diverse as biotechnology, international law, and diplomacy.
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The Vaccines for Peace (VFP) programme was proposed to meet reservations about military misuse of research and development (R&D) on vaccines against pathogens and toxins that are not only natural enemies of living organisms but also can be used as weapon agents, to provide developing countries with vaccines, to narrow the biotechnology gap between North and South and to contribute to conversion of former biological weapon facilities. 21 experts in biotechnology, defence, diplomacy, epidemiology, international law, vaccinology and virology discuss VFP in terms of strengthening the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), vaccine R&D and production, public health and biological defence, and international programmes for prevention of disease, 21 chapters, 6 annexes (including the text of the BWC and the Final Declaration of the Third Review Conference of the BWC), 33 tables and 2 figures.
