WHO Guideline Development Group Meeting: Updating Non-pharmaceutical Public Health Measures for Epidemic and Pandemic Influenza Risk Mitigation

27 – 29 June 2023
Hong Kong SAR, China

WHO Guideline Development Group Meeting: Public health and social measures for mitigating the risk and impact of epidemic and pandemic influenza - an update of 2019 guidance

 

Influenza epidemics cause considerable impact every year, and influenza pandemics occur at unpredictable intervals, with potentially devastating health and economic effects. In the early stage of influenza epidemics and pandemics, there may be delay in the availability of specific vaccines and limited supply of antiviral drugs.

In the absence of vaccines and antivirals, public health and social measures (PHSMs), previously called non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) may be the only set of pandemic countermeasures that are available and can be used to mitigate disease impact.

In 2019, the WHO guidance “Non-pharmaceutical public health measures for mitigating the risk and impact of epidemic and pandemic influenza” was developed and published. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic many PHSMs have been unprecedently used to reduce the transmission and impact of SARS-CoV-2 and a significant amount of evidence on effectiveness has been generated which could also be appliable to influenza epidemic and pandemic response.

WHO is convening a meeting of the WHO guideline development group (GDG) for the update of the above-mentioned guidance. The GDG meeting will be held on 27-29 June 2023 in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. The objectives of this meeting are to:

  • Determine the quality of evidence for each PHSM identified through systematic review;
  • Discuss and reach consensus on the recommendation and its strength and rationale for each PHSM;
  • Address feasibility, costs and ethical considerations relevant to the implementation of each PHSM;
  • Identify remaining knowledge gaps and research priorities to address the gaps; and
  • Identify “real-time” evidence that is critical to the adjustment of PHSM during an influenza pandemic, and develop corresponding readiness mechanisms.

This WHO normative meeting is by invitation only.

The names and brief biographies of individuals being considered for participation in guideline development group are hereby published for public notice and comments.

Any comment should be provided by email to influenza@who.int with the subject “Public comments on the Guideline Development Group – PHSM” with indication of the name, nature and contact details of the sender. The deadline for public comments is on Friday, 23 June 2023.

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