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Prof. David Salisbury - International Federation on Ageing. London, , UNITED KINGDOM

Prof. David Salisbury

President, Governing Council | The International Association of Immunization Managers

London, UNITED KINGDOM

Trained as a paediatrician in Oxford and London, and is a visiting professor at Imperial College, London

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Biography

Prof. Salisbury is an Associate Fellow, Centre on Global Health Security at Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs and President of the International Association of Immunization Managers Governing Council.
Prof. Salisbury was director of immunisation at the Department of Health until the end of 2014. He was the Chairman of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Vaccines from 2005 to 2010, is Chairman of the European Region Certification Commission for Poliomyelitis Eradication, and is a member of Polio Elimination Certification Commissions for two further WHO regions. He chaired the Research & Development group for the Decade of Vaccines and is a member of the Global Vaccine Action Plan SAGE Working Group. He has also had extensive experience in Global Health Security having co-chaired a G7 working group on Pandemic Influenza.

Prof. Salisbury trained as a paediatrician in Oxford and London, and is a visiting professor at Imperial College, London and a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. He continues to lecture and advise on vaccines and vaccination as well as undertaking ongoing work in polio, malaria and the development of new vaccines. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, 2001 for his services to vaccines and immunization. Prof. Salisbury continues to work extensively with the World Health Organization on the Global Programme for Vaccines.

Areas of Expertise (5)

Vaccination

Global Health Security

Poliomyelitis

Vaccines

Adult Vaccination

Accomplishments (1)

Companion of the Order of the Bath in the Queen’s Birthday Honours (professional)

The 2014 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries.

Affiliations (7)

  • Royal College of Physicians : Fellow
  • Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health : Fellow
  • Faculty of Public Health : Fellow
  • Imperial College London : Honorary Chair
  • European Region Certification Commission for Poliomyelitis Eradication : Chairman
  • Eastern Mediterranean Polio Elimination Certification Commission : Member
  • South East Asian Polio Elimination Certification Commission : Member

Languages (2)

  • English
  • French

Media Appearances (4)

New shingles vaccination 'will save just 200 lives' despite £250million cost to taxpayer

The Daily Mail  online

2013-11-04

Director of Immunisation Professor David Salisbury told MailOnline: 'The shingles vaccination programme was introduced to reduce the incidence and severity of shingles in older people – not to just save lives. 'If the programme were not cost effective, it would not have been introduced and as every GP knows, shingles kills very few people but is extremely unpleasant for a very large number of people. 'The decisions to introduce the new vaccination programme were made after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation studied all the available evidence and advised that these changes are made to protect more people against disease.'...

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Measles epidemic fears: Campaign to urge parents of million children to get MMR jab

The Mirror  online

2013-04-25

Professor David Salisbury, Government immunisations chief, told the Mirror measles could spread like “wildfire” through coughs and sneezes. In a warning to parents, he said: “We want to act now to prevent this becoming an ­emergency. "If you think your child has not had one or even two doses of MMR, for goodness sake contact your GP and get it sorted out.”...

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Insight: Evidence grows for narcolepsy link to GSK swine flu shot

Fox News Health  online

2013-01-22

David Salisbury, the British government's director of immunization, says "therein lies the risk, and the difficulty, of working in public health" when a viral emergency hits. "In the event of a severe pandemic, the risk of death is far higher than the risk of narcolepsy," he told Reuters. "If we spent longer developing and testing the vaccine on very large numbers of people and waited to see whether any of them developed narcolepsy, much of the population might be dead."...

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New vaccine against most deadly strain of meningitis could soon be offered to all babies

The Daily Mail  online

2012-11-16

Professor David Salisbury, director of immunisation at the Department of Health, said: 'The independent expert group on vaccines that advises the Government is currently looking at use of this vaccine and will provide advice in due course.'...

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Featured Articles (5)

Meningococcal C conjugate vaccine: the experience in England and Wales


Vaccine

2009 Meningococcal C conjugate vaccine was introduced in the UK in November 1999 together with a comprehensive meningococcal surveillance strategy to support and inform the vaccine programme. These surveillance data have provided important information on the ...

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Tracking mothers' attitudes to MMR immunisation 1996–2006


Vaccine

2007 This paper presents the findings of surveys that have tracked mothers' attitudes towards MMR over the period 1996–2006. The main aim was to demonstrate how attitudes in relation to MMR have evolved over the last 10 years incorporating the periods of time ...

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Compulsory vaccination and conscientious or philosophical exemptions: past, present, and future


The Lancet

2006 Compulsory vaccination has contributed to the success of immunisation programmes in the USA and Australia, yet the benefits from compulsory vaccination are not universally recognised. Some people—experts and the public alike—believe that the benefits of compulsory vaccination are outweighed by the associated ethical problems...

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A global pandemic influenza vaccine action plan


Vaccine

2006 In case of an influenza pandemic, the world will be in a situation where potential vaccine supply will fall short by several billion doses from global needs. The World Health Organization (WHO) convened in Geneva on May 2–3, 2006 a consultation of all ...

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Development of vaccines against meningococcal disease


The Lancet

2002 Neisseria meningitidis is a major cause of bacterial meningitis and sepsis. Polysaccharide–protein conjugate vaccines for prevention of group C disease have been licensed in Europe. Such vaccines for prevention of disease caused by groups A (which is associated with the ...

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