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" As megacities like Mexico City and Lagos become increasingly common, we could see a rise of the urban epidemic and a new era of infectious disease threatening global health security. "
Seth Berkley
See
Health
Security
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" As demonstrated by the emergence of the Mexican swine flu in the U.S., infectious diseases have little respect for borders; helping developing countries detect and deal with their diseases is the surest way for us to protect ourselves from new and potentially devastating epidemics. "
Seth Berkley
New
Flu
Respect
" In global health, emergency vaccine stockpiles are like the insurance policy you never really wanted to take out: you resent the cost and have mixed feelings about never making a claim. Moreover, given that a stockpile is often a last resort, if you ever fall back on it, you have, in some way, already failed. "
Seth Berkley
You
Fall
Health
" You'd see little shallow graves, lined up, one after the other - babies. That's what happens when measles goes through a nutritionally deficient community. It's a horrible disease, and it spreads incredibly efficiently. "
Seth Berkley
Community
Measles
See
" As more and more people adopt an urban lifestyle and cities continue to swell, not only does the risk of urban epidemics increase - something we haven't seen much of for decades - but the need for larger emergency stockpiles can increase, too. "
Seth Berkley
Lifestyle
People
Risk
" I wish we could have state-of-the-art hospitals in every corner of the earth... but realistically, it's going to be a while before that can happen. But we can immunise every kid on earth, and we can prevent these diseases. It's only a matter of political will, a little bit of money and some systems to do it. "
Seth Berkley
Money
Matter
Earth
" Measles is probably the best argument for why there needs to be global health, and why we have to think about it as a global public good. Because in a sense, measles is the canary in the coal mine for immunization. It is, you know, highly transmissible. The vaccine costs 15 cents, so it's not - you know, shouldn't be an issue in terms of cost. "
Seth Berkley
Think
Best
Know
" Historically, industrial revolutions haven't been kind to poor people. Despite the potential benefits technology can offer, the immediate impact on the lowest-paid members of society has often been negative. "
Seth Berkley
Negative
Technology
People
" I was a serial monogamist. "
Seth Berkley
Serial
" Land degradation, rising sea levels, famine, and conflict will continue to drive people from their homes and towards cities, with megacities like Mexico City and Lagos becoming increasingly common in some of the poorest parts of the world. "
Seth Berkley
World
Conflict
Sea
" Vaccines are extremely cost-effective, giving kids a healthy start in life and supporting the economic and educational foundations of entire communities. They directly lead to a healthy workforce, which is so critical to long-term development and prosperity in all countries. "
Seth Berkley
Life
Giving
Start
" No country in the post-colonial era has thrived without first building its capacity to conduct scientific research. "
Seth Berkley
Research
Without
Building
" The virus that causes AIDS is the trickiest pathogen scientists have ever confronted. It mutates furiously, it has decoys to evade the immune system, it attacks the very cells that are trying to fight it, and it quickly hides itself in your genome. "
Seth Berkley
Your
AIDS
Cells
" We know that children who are healthier do not require medical treatment or care, both of which cost time and money. So, by avoiding illness, infants have a greater chance of growing into healthier children who are able to attend school and become more productive members of society. "
Seth Berkley
Medical
Money
Time
" In an increasingly complex world, we have a simple and bold vision that all children should have the opportunity to grow up healthy. "
Seth Berkley
Vision
Opportunity
Children
" Finding innovative ways to deliver vaccines to children in developing countries is at the heart of our work. The very fact that we don't have people on the ground but rather work in an alliance with other organizations is itself an innovation that was the basis of GAVI's establishment in 2000. "
Seth Berkley
Work
Children
Fact
" In large part, thanks to widespread immunization, the number of young children dying each year has declined significantly, from approximately 14 million in 1979 to slightly less than eight million in 2010. "
Seth Berkley
Children
Year
Thanks
" New vaccines are being developed all the time, which could save many more lives and dramatically improve people's health. And this goes beyond the traditional burden of childhood infectious diseases. "
Seth Berkley
Childhood
People
Burden
" We've actually eliminated Type II polio in the world, at least as far as we can tell. "
Seth Berkley
Actually
Far
Tell
" More people living in less space can put greater strain on already limited sanitation resources, and this can create a fertile breeding ground for waterborne infectious disease and the insects spreading them. "
Seth Berkley
More
Living
Create
" Now, when you get a viral infection, what normally happens is it takes days or weeks for your body to fight back at full strength, and that might be too late. When you're pre-immunized, what happens is you have forces in your body pre-trained to recognize and defeat specific foes. So that's really how vaccines work. "
Seth Berkley
Work
Fight
You
" When AIDS first appeared, people didn't know what it was. You'll remember that it affected mostly young gay men - it was actually called GRID for a short period of time: Gay-Related Immunodeficiency Syndrome - and people thought it actually might be recreational drugs or other types of toxins. "
Seth Berkley
Short
Time
Thought
" I love science, and I believe in it. I have a faith that science can solve problems and make the world a better place. "
Seth Berkley
Science
Problems
Love
" Investments in immunization yield a rate of return on a par with educating our children - and higher than nearly any other development intervention. "
Seth Berkley
Higher
Return
Children
" The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is the perfect place for a dialogue that brings together industry, civil society, U.N. agencies, and countries around a shared response to the challenge of protecting children against vaccine-preventable illness. "
Seth Berkley
Challenge
Children
Society
" With infectious disease, without vaccines, there's no safety in numbers. "
Seth Berkley
Numbers
Safety
Vaccines
" The GAVI Alliance has achieved many things in its first dozen years, but none more important than helping save more than 5.5 million lives and prevent untold illness and suffering. "
Seth Berkley
Suffering
Years
First
" Leadership is about vision and responsibility, not power. "
Seth Berkley
Responsibility
About
Leadership
" Without strong health systems in place, the higher the population density, the more difficult it becomes to prevent and control outbreaks, and not just because of the increased risk of contagion. "
Seth Berkley
Risk
Place
Control
" If you want to know the value of vaccines, just spend some time in a clinic in Africa. The faces of the mothers and fathers say it all: vaccines prevent illness and save lives. "
Seth Berkley
You
Value
Time
" You can't stop wars to build tertiary teaching hospitals, but you can say, 'Let's stop for a couple of days to immunise the kids.' It has been done. "
Seth Berkley
Stop
You
Done