IVI honored by Chinese Provincial Government The IVI was honored for its excellence in scientific programs by a Chinese provincial government. The IVI and its collaborator, Guangxi Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), received a Second Place Award of the Guangxi Provincial Science & Technology Advancement Awards of 2004 for their collaborative program of Invasive Bacterial Meningitis in Asian Children. The awards are considered the highest honor in the field of science that are given by the province. Since 1998, the IVI has conducted the Invasive Bacterial Meningitis in Asian Children Program in Guangxi, China, as well as in Vietnam and South Korea. The program seeks to generate the evidence needed by policymakers for the rational introduction of new vaccines against three important causes of invasive bacterial infection, namely Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria meningitidis. Funded by the Children's Vaccine Program at PATH, Merck Vaccines, GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, and Wyeth Vaccines, the program is the one of IVI's longest running programs.