Report of the nineteenth WHOPES working group meeting: WHO/HQ, Geneva, 8–11 February 2016
Review of Veeralin LN, VectoMax GR, Bactivec SC
Overview
The 19th meeting of the WHOPES Working Group, an advisory group to the World Health Organization Pesticide Evaluation Scheme (WHOPES), was held at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland from 8 to 11 February 2016.
The Working Group reviewed one long-lasting insecticidal net product for the prevention and control of malaria: Veeralin LN (alpha- cypermethrin and piperonyl butoxide incorporated into filaments) of Vector Control Innovations Pvt Ltd, India; and two mosquito larvicides: VectoMax GR (a combined formulation of Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis and Bacillus sphaericus) of Valent BioSciences Corp., USA; and Bactivec SC (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) of Labiofam, Cuba. The Working Group made recommendations on the use of each of these products.
The meeting was opened by Dr Dirk Engels, Director, WHO Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases. He welcomed participants and noted that vector control is critical to achieving the targets for control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and malaria. New vector control tools are needed to control the spread of vector-borne diseases now and in the future, especially of rapidly expanding arboviral diseases including dengue, chikungunya and now Zika virus. WHO is working to improve evaluation of innovative tools and develop strong normative guidance to support disease control. The planned WHOPES reforms will streamline product evaluation and recommendation systems across WHO including development of a network of institutions for product evaluation accredited for good laboratory practice (GLP). WHO senior management supports these changes, and considers that the resulting system will ensure effective, safe, high-quality and innovative vector control tools. Finally, Dr Engels recognized the importance of the work of the WHOPES Working Group in evaluating products for control of malaria, vector-borne NTDs and pests of public health importance.