The World Health Organization (WHO) Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases and the newly appointed co-chairs of the WHO Informal Working Group on Echinococcosis (WHO-IWGE) convened a meeting to define the remit of the WHO-IWGE for 2017–2018.
Experts from various regions and representatives of networks constituting the WHO-IWGE Steering Group discussed an operationally functional structure of the WHO-IWGE with the aim of:
- updating procedures on clinical management and control, and mainstreaming cystic (CE) and alveolar (AE) echinococcosis into clinical medicine and public health;
- identifying urgent issues on clinical management and control for consideration by the Steering Group and thematic working groups. (CE and AE have distinct transmission cycles, geographical distributions and disease manifestations, which demand that clinical and control measures are targeted separately);
- formulating concise standard operating procedures for practical application and impact on the quality of patient care and infection control as a first step;
- exploring new venues of funding for activities and registering initial successes during the current two-year term of the WHO-IWGE; and
- coordinating and facilitating the activities of a wider group of experts and stakeholders, and involving other disciplines beyond the field of echinococcosis.
The meeting agreed that the first deliverables of the coming two years will be the publication of technical manuals to guide the clinical management and control of CE and AE, with immediate practical impact.