It is my great pleasure to welcome you here today. I am particularly pleased to welcome Senator Jan McLucas, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing.
The Sir Mark Oliphant Conferences series is run jointly by the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, and is made possible through the generosity and vision of the federal Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. The Conferences have been going on for some time – this is the eleventh one in the series. They aim to bring together those engaged at the cutting edge of science and technology research, both in Australia and overseas, and I am particularly pleased to welcome our overseas participants. I am also pleased to acknowledge the sponsorship from key players in the development of vaccines and immunotherapy technologies, namely, CSL, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Pfizer Australia and Sanofi Pasteur.
I am not a medical scientist and my lack of knowledge about vaccine technology would come through very loud and clear if I were to speak for any length of time, so I will refrain from doing that. But it is probably worth saying that progress in vaccine development in the past decades has been truly revolutionary.
When I and my colleagues were children, for example, we were exposed to lots of infectious diseases, and I can remember spending lots of time in bed at various stages with measles, whooping cough, rubella, mumps and all sorts of other things that we probably didn’t have names for. Vaccine developments have largely placed these beyond the experience of children today.
We often remark that the present generation seems to be taller than past ones, and this has often been attributed to nutrition. I sometimes wonder whether this increase in height is also attributable to the lack of childhood diseases that must inevitably have retarded growth in the past – although I have to add that this contradicts what my grandmother always said, that you grew in bed when you were asleep! But, as I say, I am displaying my ignorance on medical issues.
Despite the increases in public health measures – including, for example, the recent development of a vaccine against the human papillomavirus by Professor Ian Frazer, who is the convenor of this conference – it is true to say that as far as the vaccines are concerned, only the low-hanging fruits have so far been picked. I think the challenges ahead are truly formidable when we consider diseases such as HIV and malaria. That is, in a sense, what this meeting is all about, and I am delighted that the brightest and smartest researchers in this field are able to come together at the Academy for this week’s conference to address some of these challenges.
I welcome you all, and I wish you all the best in your deliberations.
Now it is my pleasure to introduce Senator McLucas, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing.
Jan McLucas started her first term in the Senate in July 1999. She trained as a primary school teacher in Townsville and taught for 10 years, mainly in the north of Queensland. She was elected to the Cairns City Council in 1995.
Prior to her appointment as Shadow Minister for Ageing, Disabilities and Carers in November 2004, Senator McLucas chaired the Senate Community Affairs References Committee, which conducted inquiries into poverty, children in institutional care, and aged care. She has also chaired the Senate Select Committee of Inquiry into Medicare. So she is well prepared for the portfolio she has now, and she is very well prepared to present the opening address at this conference.Visit these websites
The Sir Mark Oliphant Conference Series is supported by the Australian Government under the International Science Linkages Program.
© 2008 Sir Mark Oliphant Conferences.
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