Sixteenth Meeting Of The Strategic And Technical Advisory Group For Neglected Tropical Diseases

The sixteenth (hybrid) meeting of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases (STAG-NTD) was held on 27–28 September 2022. Presentations were given on (i) progress since the last meeting from the Director, WHO regions and partners, (ii) the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on NTD programmes and (iii) global support to NTD programmes. A number of recommendations were made in relation to lessons learnt from COVID-19, on advocacy and financing, for specific NTDs and on diagnostics. Four departing members were appreciated for their contribution to the STAG-NTD. The next (seventeenth) meeting of the STAG-NTD will be held in 2023.

The purpose of this publication is to report on the main subjects presented and discussed during the fourteenth meeting of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases (STAG-NTD), which took place on 22-24 June 2021. The recommendations made by STAG-NTD members are also recorded. The target audience is represented by the global NTD community, including WHO staff in headquarters, Regional Offices and Country Offices, officials in Ministries of Health and other governmental institutions, partner organizations and other stakeholders.

The fifth meeting of the WHO Diagnostic Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases (DTAG) was held in November 2022. The DTAG was established in 2019 to address gaps in NTD diagnostics through a harmonized approach for identifying and prioritizing diagnostic needs, and to inform WHO strategies and guidance on NTD diagnostics. The meeting addressed the end-to-end process of diagnostic development, including regulatory pathways, as we all as advocacy and resource mobilization, and engagement of diagnostics manufacturers and developers. The DTAG and its disease-specific and cross-cutting subgroups have supported and facilitated the development of several target product profiles for selected NTDs to address the critical diagnostic gaps.