Report of the third WHO stakeholders meeting on gambiense human African trypanosomiasis elimination

Since 2000, concerted efforts by national programmes, supported by public–private partnerships, nongovernmental organizations, donors and academia under the auspices and coordination of the World Health Organization (WHO), have produced important achievements in the control of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT). As a consequence, the disease was listed as a neglected tropical disease targeted for elimination as a public health problem by 2020. The Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly endorsed this goal in resolution WHA66.12 on neglected tropical diseases, adopted in 2013. National sleeping sickness control programmes (NSSCPs) are core to progressing control of the disease and in adapting to the different epidemiological situations. The support and trust of long-term donors has been crucial for these achievements. The 16 years of partnership among WHO, Sanofi and Bayer have enabled WHO to strengthen and sustain financial, technical and material support for the implementation of control activities in countries where HAT is endemic. The long-term support from the Government of Belgium in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has also been essential. Other donors have committed themselves to sustaining the elimination effort. WHO has now convened three stakeholders meetings on the elimination of gambiense HAT (g-HAT). During the two previous meetings in 2014 and 2016, commitment for HAT elimination was reinforced and structured mechanisms of collaboration were established in the network for g-HAT elimination. The network includes NSSCPs, groups developing new tools, international and nongovernmental organizations involved in disease control and donors. Meetings of the network are held biennially, and several specific working groups meet at other times to address the various aspects of elimination. A similar but simpler structure exists for rhodesiense HAT (r-HAT). The third meeting of national programme coordinators and stakeholders discussed how to strengthen activities to achieve the elimination of HAT as a public health problem by 2020, how to achieve sustainable elimination of g-HAT by 2030 given the current challenges and how to renew commitment among stakeholders in order to plan beyond 2020. The objectives of the meeting were: - to keep up the commitment of national authorities and technical and financial partners to WHO’s objectives for g-HAT; - to review progress towards the elimination of HAT and share achievements, challenges and perspectives on the goal of elimination as a public health problem and beyond among countries and implementing partners; - to discuss strategies for reinforcing control and surveillance of g-HAT; - to assess the status of critical technical aspects in research, development and implementation of therapeutic and diagnostic tools, epidemiology and vector control; and - to sustain and strengthen the network for collaboration and coordination among stakeholders.