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\nJanuary 31, 2013
\n \nPhoto by Jessica Podlaski
\nWhat started out as a two-year stint as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the early 1980s, has turned into a long and rewarding career with the agency for Stephen Cochi, MD, MPH. \u201cIt was very professionally rewarding coming here \u2013 and here we are 30 years later,\u201d Dr. Cochi said with a smile to CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, during their Conversations with the Director talk.
\nOver the years, Dr. Cochi has held several senior positions in immunization work at CDC. Currently, he is senior advisor to the director of the Global Immunization Division (GID) in the Center for Global Health. Within GID, his team works on vaccine-preventable disease (VPD) eradication and elimination and on strengthening immunization systems and introducing new vaccines around the globe.
\nDuring their hour-long conversation, Dr. Frieden was particularly interested to learn more about GID\u2019s Strengthening Immunization Systems Branch (SISB). \u201cIt\u2019s hard to know the best way for public health to help guide clinical systems to get maximum population impact,\u201d Dr. Frieden said of the challenge. \u201cCDC\u2019s immunization programs are a best practice for how to work with clinicians, health departments, and advocates. There\u2019s so many ways immunization gets it right.\u201d
\nDr. Cochi explained how his group is looking into how to best integrate immunization delivery with other primary care services to create synergies for both. \u201cThe branch has done studies in different countries to answer the question, \u2018Under what conditions do you get synergy and when does integration become burdensome or problematic?\u2019\u201d
\nBy distributing mosquito nets to caregivers at the end of a child\u2019s primary vaccination series, SISB researchers found increases in both immunization coverage and net use among young children in Malawi and Indonesia. In Kenya, the researchers found improvements in both young children\u2019s access to safe drinking water and hand hygiene among their caregivers through the distribution of hygiene kits during the children\u2019s immunization visits. These are just a few of many examples of success.
\nDr. Cochi has seen CDC\u2019s global immunization initiatives grow in size and scope over his two-and-a-half decades at CDC. When he led the agency\u2019s first polio eradication activity in the early 1990s, he had a budget of $3 million and a staff of six people. By the end of the decade, the program had a budget of $150 million, more than 100 staff members, and an agenda that covered not just polio, but also measles and other vaccine preventable diseases. \u201cMaybe that\u2019s my legacy at CDC,\u201d Dr. Cochi told Dr. Frieden. \u201cTo have helped turn GID, which started with modest roots, into a division that has had a positive impact on child survival globally and on the diseases it\u2019s trying to eradicate or control.\u201d
\nPolio eradication remains a priority for GID and CDC. In December 2011, Dr. Frieden activated CDC\u2019s Emergency Operations Center to strengthen the agency\u2019s partnership engagement though the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which is committed to completing the eradication of polio. In 2012, 222 polio cases were reported in five countries \u2013 the lowest annual number of cases ever recorded.
\nAs their discussion came to an end, Dr. Cochi told Dr. Frieden about one his most enduring professional memories. It was 2000 and he was in Pakistan, on the Khyber Pass looking out towards Afghanistan. \u201cAs I witnessed thousands of Afghans streaming into Pakistan, I noticed a polio vaccination station off to the side,\u201d he said. \u201cIt gave me such joy to see government officials steering families with kids who looked less than five years old over to that station. It left an indelible imprint on my brain.\u201d
\nThis Snapshot by Jessica Podlaski.
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