My obligation is to provide the best advice possible, both scientific and in matters of public health, and as the deputy responsible for the Public Health Agency to manage its affairs both in policy and finance. Those are my responsibilities.
I have seen this. I have seen this evidence and been part of the discussions with the Gates Foundation and with the scientists. It is my assessment, along with the Gates Foundation, that in fact this resource could be better spent elsewhere at this time, given the capacity that's developed in the world.
I have to take evidence as it arises. For example, throughout the H1N1 that we've been having, we saw things that arose on a certain date. It wasn't three weeks earlier, it wasn't three weeks later. You deal with it when it comes. This was part of additional due diligence beyond the original. Given the space of time, it was appropriate to assess what the capacity was in the world and how it had changed. The assessment was that the capacity had changed. Therefore, re-examination, given that none of the applicants passed the bar—they all had deficiencies and would require some major work in order to change that, whether in a new process or a revised process—and that capacity is now out there, it was my clear assessment and that of those who advised me, as well as the Gates Foundation, that in this case it is time to move on and use those resources for something else to move the agenda around an HIV vaccine.