September 1, 2022, SEOUL, Republic of Korea – The International Vaccine Institute (IVI), an international organization with a mission to discover, develop, and deliver safe, effective, and affordable vaccines for global health, opened the IVI Europe Regional Office (IERO) in Stockholm today. IERO, housed temporarily at the historic Posthuset building, will move to a permanent location in 2023.
As IVI’s first regional office outside of its headquarters in Seoul, Republic of Korea, this new presence in Sweden will bolster the life science and global health networks in Sweden and Europe, creating joint opportunities with research centers, academia, industry, and governments to advance vaccine R&D for neglected and emerging infectious diseases. IERO will also enable more effective engagement with collaborators in Africa, where IVI has helped build an extensive network of disease surveillance and clinical trial sites.
“We are delighted to break ground on IVI’s Europe Regional Office, a pivotal step forward for IVI as we expand our global footprint, forging new and deeper partnerships in Europe and working more efficiently with our collaborators in Africa. We are grateful to the Government of Sweden for two decades of championing our work to accelerate vaccines for poverty-associated infectious diseases, and we are confident that IVI will be able to multiply its impact from its new position in Europe,” said Dr. Jerome Kim, Director General of IVI.
“Sweden is excited to host IVI’s new Europe Regional Office. Vaccines save lives, and in order to do that we need to bring together academia, business and public agencies, and I am happy Stockholm will now be a hub for that,” commented Ms. Matilda Ernkrans, Minister for International Development Cooperation.
IVI aims to create a regional hub for global health research, innovation, and capacity-building in Sweden’s capital. In September, IVI will host its flagship International Vaccinology Course from headquarters as well as Sweden for the first time.
Following a memorandum of understanding between IVI and Sweden’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on December 17, 2021, the Swedish Parliament voted to host IVI’s Europe Regional Office on May 18, 2022. An Acting Head of IERO will be appointed shortly, and the Director will be announced later this year.
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About the International Vaccine Institute (IVI)
The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) is a non-profit international organization established in 1997 at the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Headquartered in Seoul, Republic of Korea, IVI was the first international organization hosted by Korea. IVI has 39 countries and the World Health Organization (WHO) on its treaty, including the Republic of Korea, Sweden, India, and Finland as state funders.
Our mandate is to make vaccines available and accessible for the world’s most vulnerable people. We focus on infectious diseases of global health importance such as cholera, typhoid, shigella, salmonella, schistosomiasis, Group A Strep, Hepatitis A, HPV, TB, HIV, MERS, COVID-19, as well as antimicrobial resistance. For more information, please visit https://www.ivi.int
CONTACT
Aerie Em, Global Communications & Media Specialist
+82 2 881 1386 | aerie.em@ivi.int