IVI and Pakistan
Member State Relations
On December 23, 1996, Ambassador of Pakistan to the United Nations, H.E. Ahmad A. Kamal signed the Establishment Agreement of the International Vaccine Institute at UN headquarters in New York.
On July 13, 2000, the National Assembly of Pakistan ratified the IVI Establishment Agreement.
Pakistani Leadership at IVI
In 2024, Pakistan was represented on the IVI Global Council by Dr. Aamer Ikram, former Executive Director of the National Institutes of Health, Islamabad.
Pakistan is currently represented on the IVI Global Council by Rahim Shah, Chief of the Biological Production Division at the National Institutes of Health, Islamabad.
Ongoing Collaboration
Global Burden of Human Papillomavirus (GLOBE HPV)
IVI and its partners are conducting GLOBE HPV, a global disease burden study to generate robust primary data on the prevalence and impact of human papillomavirus (HPV) among girls and women in low- and middle-income countries across South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. This five-year study aims to estimate the prevalence of high-risk HPV genotype infections among representative samples of girls and women aged 9 to 50 years, as well as specific subpopulations, to better understand the incidence of persistent HPV infection.
The study spans three countries in Asia: Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan; and five in sub-Saharan Africa: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Zambia.
The study consists of cross-sectional surveys in general populations, longitudinal studies, special population studies, and qualitative research. In addition to assessing HPV prevalence, researchers will collect data on girls’ and women’s knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding HPV interventions, perceptions of gender norms and stigma, and gender-related factors that may influence HPV burden or create barriers to accessing and utilizing HPV prevention, screening, and treatment services.
In 2024, large-scale cross-sectoral surveys and longitudinal cohort studies were launched across all eight countries. The findings from this study will provide a more accurate understanding of the HPV disease burden and the obstacles to effective interventions at both national and global levels. These insights will help inform policymakers and health program designers, guiding research and development efforts toward interventions with the greatest potential public health impact.
GLOBE HPV is done in collaboration with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Karolinska Institutet, and the U.S. CDC and is made possible by $17.2 million USD in funding from the Gates Foundation and the Government of Sweden.
Advancing Hepatitis E Control
IVI is generating critical epidemiological and clinical data to support the expanded use of Hecolin®, a hepatitis E virus vaccine approved for use in China and Pakistan. A Phase II clinical trial in Pakistan is evaluating the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine in women to support WHO prequalification and other policymaking. In South Africa, a Phase IIb trial is assessing the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine in children and adults. With about 860 participants enrolled in 2024, the study’s data will address critical evidence gaps, particularly regarding the inclusion of children in vaccine use recommendations and the administration of the vaccine to people living with HIV/AIDS.
In the South African clinical trial, IVI is collaborating with Ardent Consulting, the Medunsa Clinical Research Unit, the Newtown Clinical Research Unit, OnQ Research, and Cytespace Africa Laboratories.
This project is made possible by funding from the Gates Foundation, Open Philanthropy, and the Thrasher Research Fund.
Capturing data on Antimicrobial resistance Patterns and Trends in Use in Regions of Asia (CAPTURA)
The CAPTURA project played a pivotal role in expanding historical and current datasets on AMR and antimicrobial usage through extensive data collection efforts across Southeast and South Asia. Building on its successes, CAPTURA II aims to further improve the quality, quantity, analysis, and dissemination of AMR data. This phase focuses on refining methodologies in data collection, stronger monitoring of how surveillance systems are performing, better data management practices, and supporting sustainable improvements in these surveillance systems.
The project runs from 2023 through 2025, directly informing national and regional initiatives to help:
- Improve AMR surveillance
- Promote antimicrobial stewardship
- Shape evidence-based policy
Countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam
Strengthening External Quality Assurance for AMR in Asia (EQAsia)
The Technical University of Denmark is leading a consortium with IVI and the Veterinary Faculty at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand with the Strengthening External Quality Assurance for AMR in Asia (EQAsia) project. During the first phase, the consortium identified and mapped coverage of external quality assurance programs on the continent, providing seven rounds of services and relevant trainings to National Reference Laboratories and Centers of Excellence across One Health sectors. In the next phase, launched in 2023, partners provide four additional rounds of external quality assurance to more than 80 laboratories and centers in Asia and support two countries in establishing national external quality assurance programs to build up their capacity to independently conduct One Health-focused external quality assurance.
Technical Assistance for Clinical Engagement – Asia (TACE Asia)
The TACE Asia project focuses on providing technical support to improve the use of laboratory services and generation of good quality and representative AMR and antimicrobial use data in the human health sector. This will be done through support for clinical engagement and training on the use of simplified protocols to generate AMR burden data in select Fleming Fund priority countries. Launched in 2024, the program is contributing to the use of data on clinical practice and decision-making, improving rational use of antimicrobials, promoting antimicrobial stewardship, and shaping evidence-based practice.
Countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Viet Nam
International Vaccinology Course
Over 27 Pakistani health officials have received training in IVI’s Annual Vaccinology Course.
Previous Collaboration
Typhoid Program: Disease Surveillance, Vaccination Campaigns, Vaccine Technology Transfer
From 2000 to 2004, IVI carried out its first global program, the Diseases of the Most Impoverished (DOMI) disease burden study. As part of the DOMI program, IVI worked with partners in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Vietnam to determine the burden of typhoid fever in Asia and to demonstrate the effectiveness of typhoid vaccination.
Working with the Department of Microbiology at Aga Khan University, IVI established disease surveillance sites at local healthcare facilities in the low-income Karachi communities of Hijrat Colony, Sultanabad, and Bilal Colony. IVI also worked with community healthcare workers to offer free typhoid diagnosis and treatment during their household visits. Nearly 42,000 children aged 2 to 15 were enrolled in the study, which discovered high incidence rates of typhoid infection (573.2 annual cases per 100,000 people) in children under 5 years old.
Following this surveillance study, IVI and Aga Khan University conducted a vaccination efficacy study in 2004 in Sultanabad, Hirjat Colony, and Bilal Colony to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Vi-PS typhoid vaccine. Approximately 30,000 children aged 2 to 16 years old received either a Hepatitis A vaccine or Typhoid vaccine in the randomized trial, which demonstrated a high degree of protectiveness in children 5-16 years old.
In 2008, as part of the Vi-based Vaccines for Asia (VIVA) Initiative, IVI transferred the technology for the Tybar Vi-PS typhoid vaccine from India’s Baharat Biotech to Pakistan’s Amson Vaccines & Pharma (Pvt.) Ltd, enabling Pakistan to manufacture the typhoid vaccine domestically.
In 2010-2011, based on the success of the Vi-PS vaccine demonstration in Karachi, the government of Sindh Province agreed to pilot test the introduction of typhoid vaccines in a school-based setting. IVI, Aga Khan University, and the Sindh Province Ministry of Health conducted the campaign, providing 116,635 students in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Jamshed towns the Amson-produced Vi-PS vaccine. The vaccine demonstration used an innovative funding method (cross-subsidization) which involved charging a vaccine user fee to students from private schools in high-income neighborhoods to subsidize no-cost vaccinations for students from less wealthy areas.
Shigella Surveillance
From 2000 to 2004, As part of the DOMI Program, IVI investigated the burden of Shigella in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
In Pakistan, IVI and Aga Khan University established four treatment centers and research sites in the low-income Karachi communities of Rehri Goth, Sherpao Colony, Hijrat Colony, and Sultanabad. From 2002 through 2003, roughly 60,000 people participated in the study, which uncovered nearly 400 cases of Shigella infection, 73% of which were in children under 5 years of age. Data from this research revealed that Shigella imposes a heavy health and economic burden on both public-sector institutions and private households. Public surveys identified high demand for a vaccine to protect children against Shigella dysentery.
The results of the Shigella study in Pakistan have significantly influenced the ongoing development of IVI’s Shigella vaccine.