WHO To Hold Stakeholder Consultation On Status Of Zika Research Next Week

The World Health Organization has announced it will hold a closed-door, three-day consultation with key stakeholders next week in Geneva to discuss the current status of clinical research into the Zika virus.

The meeting will be followed by a press briefing with Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO Assistant Director General, Health Systems and Innovation, and others. Stakeholders include a range of representatives of academic institutions, foundations and others. The following is the WHO agenda with list of participants of the meeting.

The press release is reprinted below:

Researchers and Public Health Experts to Identify Zika Research Priorities for
Product Development

Geneva: The World Health Organization (WHO) will hold a three-day consultation with key stakeholders on 7-9 March in Geneva on the current status of Zika clinical research.  The meeting is part of a larger effort to convene key actors and drive targeted R&D for medical countermeasures to respond to the Zika outbreak.

The meeting will take place in Geneva […]

Building on a WHO/PAHO regional meeting held this week in Washington DC, the consultation will look at two main issues: the status of scientific knowledge of the disease and public health implications (day 1); and the current pipeline of medical countermeasures and research priorities in four product streams: diagnostics, vaccines, vector control and therapeutics (days 2 and 3).

In the context of the R&D Blueprint and its role in emergency research response, WHO has conducted an analysis of the current R&D product development landscape for Zika and an initial exploration of research priorities.  In addition, WHO is spearheading the movement on transparent and real-time data sharing in research and will devote some of the consultation to this issue, crucial at all times but particularly during health emergencies.  The consultation will also discuss options for equitable sample sharing.

Participants in the meeting include scientists and regulators, research institutions and health authorities from Zika-affected and other countries, and industry representatives.

A press briefing is planned at the conclusion of the consultation.

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