LONDON – 95 experts from 27 countries meeting in April 2018 in Kampala, Uganda, agreed consensus recommendations for the WHO on which diagnostic tests should be considered ‘Essential’, for low and middle-income countries. This was the first time such a consensus meeting has been held for fungal diseases and AIDS and was timed to precede and help inform the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on In Vitro Diagnostics (SAGE-IVD) which was held in Geneva, 16th and 20th April 2018.
The WHO published the 1st edition of the List of Essential In Vitro Diagnostics (EDL) in May 2018, and it included several tests discussed and endorsed at the workshop with very strong or strong recommendations. If implemented and made available in each country, these diagnostic tests will directly improve patient care, public health and will save many, many lives.
Uganda was selected particularly because of its prolific scientific outputs ranking it 4th in Africa in terms of scientific publications and has made enormous contributions to our understanding of HIV disease and fungal meningitis in particular.
Convened by the Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections (GAFFI), these experts included experienced clinicians, senior laboratory staffs, and public health practitioners representing several Ministries of Health, national reference laboratories, research institutes and international health organizations including WHO, GAFFI, UNITAID, CDC and MSF.
WHAT: Press conference releasing official report from Kampala followed by a cocktail reception
WHEN: Tuesday 10th of July 2018
5 pm – 7 pm
WHERE: Uganda High Commission
Uganda House
58-59 Trafalgar Square
Participants: Prof. David Denning, Professor of Infectious Diseases in Global Health & President of GAFFI, Prof. Nigel Lightfoot, High Level Advisor on Global Health Security Policy and Implementation,
Dr. Felix Bongomin, Mycology Specialist, representatives of the Uganda High Commission and several international members of the GAFFI board.
About GAFFI: GAFFI is a charitable foundation (NGO) focused on reducing deaths and illness caused by fungal disease. Fungal diseases are neglected worldwide by public health authorities. GAFFI issued a 10-year Roadmap in 2015 calling for ‘95-95 by 2025’, summarized as 95 per cent of patients with serious fungal infections are diagnosed and treated. https://gaffi.org/roadmap/
The EDL meeting in Kampala was a core component of increasing access to key diagnostic tests for life-threatening fungal diseases.
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View ‘Essential Diagnostics for Fungal Diseases and AIDS’ slide deck