Eleventh report of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases (STAG-NTDs)

Overview

The eleventh meeting of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Neglected Tropical Diseases (STAG-NTD) at the headquarters of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland on 26–27 April 2018.

The meeting was opened by Dr Ren Minghui, WHO Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases (CDS), who welcomed participants and paid tribute to Professor Nilanthi de Silva, chairperson of STAG-NTD, who will be standing down from her role at the conclusion of her term.

Dr Ren emphasized the importance of STAG recommendations and their implementation. The recommendations of this eleventh meeting would be shared with and welcomed by the Director-General. An increasing number of countries were progressing towards the NTD targets and goals, and these gains must be sustained, improved and aligned with universal health coverage.

At the request of Professor de Silva, all those present introduced themselves.

There followed a review of progress towards the 2020 targets and goals led by Dr Gautam Biswas, interim director of the WHO Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases. He recalled the Global Partners meeting (Geneva, April 2017) that had been attended by Dr Kofi Annan, former General-Secretary of the United Nations, Mr Bill Gates, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr Margaret Chan, former WHO Director-General, health ministers of countries affected by NTDs and chief executive officers of pharmaceutical companies, among others.