Dates: 21–22 September 2022
Location: Centre International de Conférences Genève (Rue de Varembé 17)
Participation: hybrid (both in-person and online)
For NTD programmes, high quality information to support effective decision-making is now more valuable than ever. National health ministries face diverse challenges, including locally increased transmission rates secondary to COVID-19-related programming interruptions, which could slow the achievement of the 2030 targets; cuts to donor NTD implementation funding in sub-Saharan Africa; and reduced domestic revenues.
Infectious disease modelling plays an increasing role as a tool for understanding, projecting and forecasting the dynamics of NTDs. It can inform the design of optimally effective intervention and surveillance strategies and the testing and roll-out of new tools. WHO has previously engaged with the NTD modelling community during the open consultation on the development of the 2030 NTD targets. Modelling generated invaluable insights into the achievability, measurability and feasibility of those targets. More recently, WHO and the NTD Modelling Consortium have collaborated to predict the impact of COVID-19 related programme disruptions and to estimate the impact of remedial strategies that could help programmes get back on track.
As programmes plan how to accelerate progress in the approach to the year 2030, WHO, the NTD Modelling Consortium and other partners propose to meet to identify the highest priority modelling needs and identify a path forward to support these needs.