The US government has spent an estimated $60 billion on biodefence since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 (Nature 477, 150–152; 2011). This is an unprecedented investment in biomedical research and infrastructure.

The value of capacity-building and spin-off discoveries that advance drug discovery and vaccine research should not be underestimated. However, suppose a fraction of this money had been used to accelerate vaccine research for existing diseases that pose a clear and present danger. In the case of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria — which together kill around 6 million people every year — we might have vaccines for all three by now.

Of the billions that are spent each year on combating infectious diseases using the tools we have, less than 2% is invested in vaccine research. The science is there to develop vaccines against these killer diseases, but the resources are not. A more balanced approach to allocating resources is needed.