Summary report on the twentieth meeting of the Regional Programme Review Group and national neglected tropical diseases programme managers, virtual meeting, 23–25 May 2022
The twentieth meeting of the Regional Programme Review Group (RPRG) on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and national NTD programme managers was held by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean on 23–25 May 2022.
The virtual meeting was attended by representatives from the ministries of health of Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia and Yemen, as well as disease experts from WHO collaborating centres, WHO country offices, the Global Leprosy Programme, the Expanded Special Project for Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (ESPEN), the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean and WHO headquarters.
Representatives from partner organizations also attended, including the Christian Blind Mission, Eastern Mediterranean Region Trachoma Initiative, International Trachoma Initiative, The End Fund and United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The objectives of the meeting were to:
- review country-specific progress made during 2021–2022;
- present the Eastern Mediterranean Region NTD implementation plan 2021–2025;
- present the key recommendations of recent global/WHO guidelines published during 2021–2022; and
- provide recommendations to countries on the control/elimination of NTDs during 2022