Sir Leszek examines the science and politics surrounding preventative medicine in this year’s Harveian Oration
20 October 2009
Mass vaccination has saved countless lives and we now have the opportunity to eradicate major diseases, yet the subject continues to be deeply controversial. In a keynote speech to the Royal College of Physicians, MRC chief executive Sir Leszek Borysiewicz suggests that perhaps the time has come for a ‘new science’ – one that can encourage objective and reasonable debate on the risks and benefits of preventative medicine.
Delivering the 2009 Harveian Oration, Sir Leszek recommended a new kind of scientific study that addresses the anxieties and motivations of those reluctant to take part in vaccination programmes and takes into account their often conflicting needs.
Sir Leszek said “Without wider social and political support, scientific discovery can only take us so far in preventing the spread of disease. The importance of taking steps to ensure widespread understanding and public support is critical to any preventative measure we may seek to introduce.”
He urged his fellow doctors and scientists to remember the essential role vaccination has already played in the prevention of serious illness across the world, such as the eradication of smallpox, a disease which at one time killed as many as every seventh child in Europe.
Sir Leszek discussed his own contribution to the scientific analysis of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) which has led to the development of vaccines designed to prevent cervical cancer. He also highlighted the challenges of delivering vaccines and other treatments in the safest way possible, citing the MRC’s recent DART trial as an example.
“The key thing to remember when undertaking health interventions, is that we must remain driven by the needs of populations, individuals and patients and the efforts of scientists to strive for new discoveries to improve human health through prevention and treatment”
Ends
About the Harveian Oration
William Harvey, the eminent 17th Century physician who discovered the circulation of the blood, gave an indenture to the Royal College of Physicians in 1656 for an annual dinner to encourage friendship between Fellows and Members of the College at which there should be an oration “with an exhortation to the Fellows and Members of the said College to search and study out the secret of Nature by way of experiment”. The Royal College of Physicians continues the tradition by inviting a leading doctor or scientist to give the Oration on issues relating to his or her own field of work.
