The objective of the list is to help countries develop or update their national essential diagnostics lists, raise awareness and political will, guide procurement and regulation policies and improve access to the most important in vitro diagnostics that all countries need to make available to their populations, particularly in low-resourced countries. It will also contribute towards health systems strengthening and realizing universal health coverage.
In May 2018 the World Health Organization (WHO) published the first ever Model List of Essential In Vitro Diagnostics (EDL). The objective of the list is to help countries develop or update their national essential diagnostics lists raise awareness and political will guide procurement and regulation policies and improve access to the most important in vitro diagnostics that all countries need to make available to their populations particularly in low-resourced countries. It will also contribute towards health systems strengthening and realizing universal health coverage. The 1st EDL list includes 62 test categories divided into two levels and two categories: - Level I: primary care settings where no or minimal laboratory services are available - Level II: facilities with laboratories - Category a: general IVDs - Category b: disease-specific IVDs
The report of the second meeting of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on In Vitro was launched in November 2019 and includes the updated WHO Model List of Essential In Vitro Diagnostics (EDL), which lists 122 in vitro diagnostic categories and incorporates evidence base and expositions of the applications to be included on the EDL and the basis of decisions made to list or reject these IVDs. The evidence is expected to guide countries on constituting their national EDLs. In addition the report also presents decision summaries on suggested edits to the first EDL, recommendations on various matters of in vitro diagnostics including the framework for developing future editions, and proposed actions for implementation of the EDL in regions and countries.
The World Health Organization (WHO) held its inaugural global meeting on skin-related neglected tropical diseases (skin NTDs) on 27–31 March 2023, convening more than 800 global experts, stakeholders and partners. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the progress and challenges of integrating control and management of skin NTDs at the country level, in alignment with the NTD road map 2021–2030 (“the road map”) and the companion road map document on skin NTDs (“the skin NTD framework”). Skin diseases rank among the top reasons for outpatient visits and often lead to long-term disability, stigmatization and mental health issue and half of the 20 NTDs present with skin manifestations. The objectives of the meeting were centred on sharing experiences in country-level integration, showcasing research advances, implementation of the skin NTD framework and strengthening networking among experts. Participants included skin NTD specialists, representatives of health ministries, nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions and WHO. Key messages highlighted the importance of the NTD road map, emphasizing three implementation pillars: accelerating programmatic action, intensifying cross-cutting approaches, and changing operational models and culture to support country ownership. Key actions arising from the meeting were to enhance advocacy and visibility of NTDs, their inclusion into critical global policy documentation and in global health mechanisms. The global community was urged to increase NTD investments to meet the road map targets for 2030, emphasizing digital technologies, enhanced diagnostics and advances in new treatments. The second global skin NTD meeting is scheduled for 24-26 March 2025 at WHO headquarters in Geneva. The path forward is clear: we must strengthen collaborations and amplify efforts towards the 2030 NTD road map targets.
This guidance document has been produced by the World Health Organization (WHO) to assist blood services in the development of national plans to respond to any disaster, major incident or emergency that threatens sufficiency or safety of the blood supply. Such situations can be caused by natural forces, by factors influenced by humans or directly caused by humans. This document is intended to guide the national blood service through the process of planning how to respond in a timely, controlled and appropriate way to emergencies. In the preparation of the document, WHO has tried to include the elements that blood services or providers might need to consider, providing some background on the reasons for their inclusion and guidance on different response options that may be available. The consequences of an emergency may include interruption of blood supply due to a shortage of blood donors, or to a disrupted supply of critical materials and equipment used in blood collection, component preparation and laboratory testing, resulting in reduced availability of blood and blood components. Although the demand for transfusion may decrease in some situations, transfusions continue to be necessary for clinical emergencies and for those patients reliant on long-term transfusion support. In contrast, some emergencies, for instance those resulting in multiple casualties, could lead to a rapid surge in demand for blood over a short time. The challenge is to maintain essential transfusion services as well as responding to the emergency. Preparedness, including business continuity planning, is essential for blood services to mitigate the impact of emergencies. Preparation should be underpinned by locally sensitive risk assessment using relevant data at the local or country level. However, it is not possible to predict the nature of every situation that could impact on the blood supply, and it is therefore expected that blood services will review the elements in this document as well as assessing their own situation, needs, capabilities and resources, along with any additional relevant country-specific factors, in the development of their own response plans. Planning should consider the concurrence and combinations of events and the response should be proportionate and coordinated with others. The aim is to maintain critical services and prepare for recovery. Staff training and support is key to resilience. It is acknowledged that as well as affecting the sufficiency and safety of blood supply, major incidents in countries undertaking transplantation may threaten the safety and sufficiency of the supply of other products of human origin, such as cells, tissues and organs. Increasingly, blood services are taking overall national responsibility for transplantation in their capacity as the organization responsible for the collection, processing, storage and supply of cells, tissues and organs. This approach is both sensible and appropriate, as the overall donor selection and screening processes are the same or very similar. This guidance document can therefore also be used to assist those bodies responsible for the provision of cells, tissues and organs to prepare for emergencies. Resilience to disasters and emergencies requires a commitment to the blood supply and transfusion system as an integral part of the health care system.
This book discusses the unique epidemiology of fungal infections in Asia, illustrating that the situation in these countries is different from that in Western countries in terms of the causative species, natural history and management strategies. Asia, the world’s largest continent and home to more than half the global population, has conditions that favor the growth of many fungi, including a number of unique species. Further, socio-economic conditions such as overcrowding, compromised health care facilities and lack of awareness add to the morbidity and mortality due to fungal diseases in this part of the world. Since the majority of Asian countries do not have good diagnostic mycology laboratories, antifungal management is often based on experience. The limited data from Asian countries suggest a very high incidence of fungal infections. This book addresses epidemiology of fungal infections in general and specific populations of Asia, fungal allergy, and diagnosis and management in resource-limited environments. The book is must read for busy clinicians, microbiologists and critical care providers.
Advances in Molecular Pathology is an annual review publication that covers the current practices and latest developments in the field of Molecular Pathology. Each issue is divided into sections for comprehensive coverage of all subspecialty areas within molecular pathology, including, Genetics, Hematopathology, Infectious Disease, Pharmacogenomics, Informatics, Solid Tumors, and special topics on COVID-19. The Editor-in-Chief of the publication is Dr. Gregory Tsongalis, a leading expert in the field. Topics covered this year include but are not limited to: Phenotype Association and Variant Pathogenicity Prediction Tools in Genomic Analysis; The application of noninvasive prenatal screening to detect copy number variations; Next generation cytogenomics using optical mapping; Review of molecular in APL; NGS for MRD in acute leukemia; Review of emerging technologies as they pertain to infectious disease testing; Germline genetic variants that predict drug response; Nutrigenomics; PGx of hypertension; Genomic data for blood typing, specifically both through NGS and arrays; Preanalytic Variables and Tissue Stewardship for Reliable Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) Clinical Analysis; and Cell-free nucleic acids in cancer: Current approaches, challenges, and future directions.
