International Vaccine Institute

The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) is the world's only international organization devoted exclusively to developing and introducing new and improved vaccines to protect the world's poorest people, especially children in developing countries. Established as an initiative of the United Nations Development Programme in 1997, IVI operates as an independent international organization under a treaty signed by 40 countries and the World Health Organization. The Institute conducts research in more than 30 countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America on vaccines against diarrheal infections, bacterial meningitis and pneumonia, as well as Japanese encephalitis and dengue fever, and develops new and improved vaccines at its headquarters in Seoul, Republic of Korea.