The Second WHO HPV Laboratory Network Meeting

Overview

In anticipation of the implementation of new prophylactic Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, the World Health Organization (WHO) is supporting the establishment of a global HPV Laboratory Network (LabNet) whose mission is to "contribute to improving the quality of laboratory services for effective surveillance and monitoring of HPV vaccination impact through enhanced, state-of-the-art laboratory support". To date, two Global Reference Laboratories (GRL) and eight Regional Reference Laboratories (RRL) have been assigned to the WHO HPV LabNet.

WHO convened a meeting at its headquarters in Geneva, 17-19 November 2008 to review progress since the last meeting in January 2008, to identify priorities and assign roles and responsibilities for future activities. The objectives of the meeting were to: 1) review how the HPV LabNet could contribute to the implementation of WHO policy on HPV vaccination; 2) review progress in standardization projects to develop International Standards (IS) for HPV DNA and antibodies and their use in assay standardization; 3) review data/results from HPV LabNet collaborative studies on HPV genotyping and serologic assays. Progress and workplan in the development of the first edition of HPV Laboratory Manual was also discussed. In addition, the achievements and progress made in HPV LabNet and in each reference laboratory over the year were reviewed along with proposed activities for the coming year. Activities of other WHO laboratory networks were discussed along with input from WHO Regional Offices in order to further develop the role of HPV LabNet in supporting HPV surveillance and vaccination impact monitoring. Upon the conclusion of the meeting, recommendations were identified to assist the HPV LabNet in fulfilling its mission.