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September 9, 2002

U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Panel: DOD Vaccine Program Limited"

Associated Press (www.ap.org) (09/06/02)

An Institute of Medicine panel criticized the Department of Defense's (DoD's) vaccine acquisition program on Friday, saying it lacked organization and funding.  In a report to the Pentagon, the panel said vaccine acquisition needed to be made a higher priority and recommended the creation of a special panel that would be responsible for procuring vaccines for the military. This recommendation aimed to mitigate the overlapping responsibilities within the DoD's vaccine programs, which is what the panel described as one of the agency's major inefficiencies. The panel proposed integrating all programs, because naturally occurring infectious diseases and infectious agents used as biological weapons can be the same.

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