Informal Working Groups on Echinococcosis (WHO-IWGE)
Informal Working Groups on Echinococcosis were founded in 1985 under the auspices of the WHO. For 10 years, under the leadership of Professor J. Eckert (University of Zurich, Switzerland), the groups organized meetings of specialists and promoted international scientific exchange and co-operation in the field of echinococcosis research.
Key contributions and work of the WHO-IWGE
In 1995, the WHO-IWGE developed a standardized classification of cystic echinococcosis (CE) that could be applied in all settings.
In 2001, the WHO in conjunction with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), published the WHO/OIE Manual on Echinococcosis in Humans and Animals: a Public Health Problem of Global Concern.
In 2009, the consensus for diagnosis and treatment of CE and alveolar echinococcosis (AE) reached by the WHO-IWGE was published (Brunetti et al, 2010), providing updated guidelines for diagnosis and treatment.
The WHO-IWGE is in the process of reviewing the diagnosis and associated clinical management of echinococcosis and elaborating technical manuals with practical applicability.Several workings groups have been created to cover the different aspects of the
diseases and are working on creating those documents. The group is also working to promote the collection and mapping of epidemiological data.
Outcome of the Steering Group of the WHO Informal Working Group on Echinococcosis
On 6 October, 2017, the Steering Group of the WHO Informal Working Group on Echinococcosis (WHO-IWGE) met in Algiers, Algeria.
The Group prioritized the development of a cystic echinococcosis (CE) technical manual as an output planned to be published by mid of 2018. The subgroup on alveolar echinococcosis (AE) named the lead contributors to the planned parallel work on AE. The CE and AE subgoups will work closely together to coordinate their work.
On behalf of the CE subgroup, Prof. Thomas Junghanss, the chair of WHO-IWGE proposed the structure and content of the manual. An outline of the structure and process to prepare the evidence profiles and extracted data was presented and agreed and included review of the literature, expert opinion, consensus process and further research needs. In addition, the WHO-IWGE agreed to clarify the classification of echinococcosis and standardize echinococcosis nomenclature.
A session on the work of the WHO-IWGE and discussion to gather inputs from the wider community was held during the plenary of the World Association of Echinococcosis.