About The Conference

8^th Canadian Immunization Conference
November 30 to December 3, 2008
Sheraton Centre, Toronto

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and its partners held the very successful 8^th Canadian Immunization Conference in Toronto between November 30 and December 3, 2008, under the themes of "Partnership, Innovation and Education".  The 8th edition of the Conference welcomed 1,130 participants to 7 plenary and 34 concurrent sessions which covered the continuum on immunizations.  See the Final Program for more details.

The Conference has been organized and funded every two years, since 1994, by the Centre for Immunization and Respiratory Infectious Diseases of the PHAC.  The PHAC hosted this year’s Conference in collaboration with the Canadian Association of Immunization Research and Evaluation , the Canadian Public Health Association and the Canadian Paediatric Society .  

The Conference provided an opportunity for PHAC to demonstrate Canada’s commitment to immunization as an important and successful public health measure and reinforce Canada’s leadership role in immunization through the National Immunization Strategy.  See the Goals of the 8^th Canadian Immunization Conference. 

In her address to conference delegates, the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, praised the work done in immunization by the Government of Canada and its partners as having led to improvements in immunization programs across the country.  She also stressed the need to continue those partnerships as a way "to do even more to protect the health of Canadians".  Read the full Minister’s Message.

Dr. David Butler-Jones, the Chief Public Health Officer (CPHO), acknowledged parents’ concerns about vaccines when addressing delegates, but also noted that "More children now than ever have equitable access to safe, effective vaccines that protect against a range of diseases".  The CPHO also called immunization "one of the greatest life saving and disability prevention interventions that we have". 

Some of the components of the 8^th Canadian Immunization Conference included:

• 20 Oral Abstracts presentations and 144 abstracts presented as Scientific Posters
• 39 booths from non-governmental, public and private sector organizations displayed in the Exhibit Hall
• Attendance of Canadian Immunization Poster Contest Winner Ryan Magee of Monsignor J.S. Smith School in Calgary and the display of national winner and all provincial and territorial winning posters in the Exhibit Hall
• 4 bursaries awarded under the Vaccinology Student Research Program
• 14 bursaries awarded to recipients from across Canada under the Travel Bursary Program
• For the first time, 5 industry-sponsored Satellite Symposia were included which were offered by GlaxoSmithKline, sanofi Pasteur, Merck Frosst and Wyeth and accredited by the Canadian Paediatric Society

Other Highlights of this year’s edition of the conference included:

The Dr. John Waters Memorial lecture
This lecture provided a perspective on the distance traveled and the challenges and opportunities for the future of immunization in Canada.
 
The 2008 Distinguished Lecture in Canadian Immunization Award
This new award is given to Canadian residents who are actively working in immunization, retired or deceased, who have made a significant contribution to the immunization field in Canada in an area such as research, policy or program. This year’s award recipient was Dr. Bernard Duval.  Read more about Bernard Duval .  

The 9^th edition of the Conference will be held in Quebec City from December 5-8, 2010 and we look forward to seeing you there!