WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation. Report on the scientific basic of tobacco product regulation: fourth report of a WHO study group

This report presents the conclusions reached and recommendations made by the members of the WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation at its sixth meeting, during which it reviewed two background papers specially commissioned for the meeting and which dealt, respectively, with the following two themes. (1) toxic elements in tobacco and in cigarette smoke (2) the basis for a regulatory framework to reduce the dependence potential of tobacco products The Study Group's recommendations in relation to each theme are set out at the end of the section dealing with that theme; its overall recommendations are summarized in section 4.     

The scientific basis of tobacco product regulation

This report presents the conclusions reached and recommendations made by the members of the WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation at its third meeting, during which it reviewed four background papers specially commissioned for the meeting and which dealt, respectively, with the following four themes. 1. The contents and design features of tobacco products: their relationship to dependence potential and consumer appeal. 2. Candy-flavoured tobacco products: research needs and regulatory recommendations. 3. Biomarkers of tobacco exposure and of tobacco smoke-induced health effects. 4. Setting maximum limits for toxic constituents in cigarette smoke. The Study Group's recommendations in relation to each theme are set out at the end of the section dealing with that theme; its overall recommendations are summarized in section 6.     

Proceedings of the 2008 annual meeting of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Study Group

The annual meeting of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Study Group (FASDSG) was held on June 28, 2008 in Washington DC, as a satellite to the Research Society on Alcoholism meeting. The FASDSG membership includes clinical, basic, and social scientists who meet to discuss recent advances and issues in FASD research. The main theme of the meeting was “Factors that Influence Brain and Behavioral Development: Implications for Prevention and Intervention.” Two keynote speakers, Dr. Stephen Suomi and Dr. Carl Keen addressed how early environment and nutrition may influence outcome after prenatal alcohol exposure. The final keynote speaker, Kathy Mitchell, addressed issues regarding the relationship between scientists and the families with children with FASD. Members of the FASDSG provided updates on new findings through brief (FASt) data reports and national agency representatives provided updates of activities and funding priorities. Presentations were also made by recipients of the Student Research Merit award and Rosett award.     

Proceedings of the 2013 Annual Meeting of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Study Group

The 2013 Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Study Group (FASDSG) meeting was held in Orlando (Grand Cypress), FL with the theme “Developing Brain-Based Interventions for Individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.” Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders have significant impairments in cognitive functioning and behavioral regulation skills, which lead to a lifetime of challenges for themselves and their families; thus, developing interventions that remediate or compensate for these deficits is of great importance. The conference included 2 keynote presentations, FASt data talks, award presentations, and updates by government agencies. In addition, a lively panel discussion addressed the challenges faced by FASDSG researchers in the translation of intervention strategies developed in preclinical studies to clinical trials and, ultimately, to clinical practice.     

Vaccines against tick-borne encephalitis: WHO position paper--recommendations

This article presents the WHO recommendations on the use of vaccines against tick-borne encephalitis excerpted from the recently published Vaccines against tick-borne encephalitis: WHO position paper. This is the first WHO position paper on the use of tick-borne encephalitis. It was published in the Weekly Epidemiological Record in June 2011. In this paper, footnotes provide a limited number of core references including references to grading tables that assess the quality of scientific evidence for a few key conclusions; a more comprehensive list of references is offered in the Background document on vaccines and vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis available at http://www.who.int/immunization/sage/6_TBE_backgr_18_Mar_net_apr_2011.pdf.In accordance with its mandate to provide guidance to Member States on health policy matters, WHO issues a series of regularly updated position papers on vaccines and combinations of vaccines against diseases that have an international public health impact. These papers are concerned primarily with the use of vaccines in large-scale immunization programmes; they summarize essential background information on diseases and vaccines, and conclude with WHO's current position on the use of vaccines in the global context. This paper reflects the recommendations of WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization. These recommendations were discussed by SAGE at its April 2011 meeting. Evidence presented at the meeting can be accessed at http://www.who.int/immunization/sage/previous/en/index.html.     

WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence

This report presents the recommendations of a WHO Expert Committee responsible for reviewing information on dependence-producing drugs to assess the need for their international control. The first part of the report contains a summary of the Committee's evaluations of seven substances (dronabinol, oripavine, buprenorphine, butorphanol, ketamine, khat and zopiclone). The report also discusses the substances that were pre-reviewed (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid and tramadol) and recommended gamma-hydroxybutyric acid for critical review at a future meeting. Two substances (gamma-butyrolactone and 1,4-butanediol) were identified for future pre-review). The second part of the report discusses the guidelines for the WHO review of dependence-producing psychoactive substances for international control. It includes sections on amending the current guidelines, interpretation of specific aspects of the guidelines and access to information necessary for the evaluation of substances. The final section considers other matters including activities of the EMCCDA, the use of pharmacovigilance data, promotion of education and information on the appropriate use of psychoactive drugs and the impact of international control on medical availability of substances.     

国际烟草控制框架公约与国内政策的差距分析

本文介绍了我国的烟草使用情况、严重后果和国际烟草控制公约提出的六大控烟策略,对比分析了我国控烟措施与国际公约要求存在的差距,如公共场合和工作场所的禁烟、戒烟帮助、烟草危害警示、禁止烟草广告、促销及赞助、提高烟草税等几大问题,并在此基础上对控烟工作的差距进行深入分析,提出了相关政策建议。     

Human papillomavirus vaccines: WHO position paper,October 2014—Recommendations

This article presents the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommendations for the use of vaccines against diseases caused by human papillomaviruses (HPV) from the WHO position paper on Human papillomavirus vaccines: WHO position paper – October 2014, recently published in the Weekly Epidemiological Record [1]. This position paper summarizes the most recent developments in the field of HPV vaccines and the WHO position on HPV vaccine schedules in females. This document replaces the first WHO position paper on vaccines against diseases caused by HPV published in 2009 [2].Footnotes to this paper provide a number of core references. In accordance with its mandate to provide guidance to Member States on health policy matters, WHO issues a series of regularly updated position papers on vaccines and combinations of vaccines against diseases that have an international public health impact. These papers are concerned primarily with the use of vaccines in large-scale immunization programmes; they summarize essential background information on diseases and vaccines, and conclude with WHO's current position on the use of vaccines in the global context. This paper reflects the recommendations of WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization. These recommendations were discussed by SAGE at its April 2014 meeting. Evidence presented at the meeting can be accessed at http://www.who.int/immunization/sage/previous/en/index.html.     

Comprehensive tobacco control measures--the overview of the strategies recommended by WHO

According to the World Health Organization, there are more than one billion smokers in the world, and tobacco is said to kill half of its users. The European Region of WHO, with only 15% of the world's population, faces nearly one third of the worldwide burden of tobacco related diseases. Millions of lives could be saved with effective and comprehensive tobacco control strategy. In response to this, the World Health Organization has offered a wide range of information and recommendations to governments, organizations, health-care professionals, and tobacco users and non-users worldwide. This paper is focusing on various activities that governments, organizations or even individuals can undertake to help smokers to quit and decrease percentages of tobacco users and save millions of lives.     

Proceedings of the 2009 annual meeting of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Study Group

The annual meeting of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Study Group (FASDSG) was held on June 20, 2009 in San Diego, CA, as a satellite of the Research Society on Alcoholism Meeting. The FASDSG membership includes clinical, basic, and social scientists who meet to discuss recent advances and issues in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders research. The main theme of the meeting was “Epigenetics and Development.” Two keynote speakers, Dr. Randy Jirtle and Dr. Michael Skinner, addressed the role of epigenetics and environmental inputs, including alcohol, during critical stages of development and their potential critical and long-lasting effects. Members of the FASDSG provided new findings through brief “FASt” data reports, and national agency representatives provided updates on activities and funding priorities. Scientific presentations were made by recipients of the Student Research Merit Award and Rosett Award.     

WHO Working Group discussion on revision of the WHO recommendations for the production and control of poliomyelitis vaccines (oral): TRS Nos. 904 and 910. Report of Meeting held on 20-22 July 2010, Geneva, Switzerland

Oral poliomyelitis vaccine (OPV) is a critical part of the polio eradication programme. A high number of doses are administered each year with an impact on billions of citizens worldwide. It is therefore essential that written standards concerning OPV are up to date and widely available. The World Health Organization (WHO) publishes technical guidance on the quality, safety and efficacy of vaccines intended to assist national regulatory authorities (NRAs), national control laboratories (NCLs) and manufacturers. As part of its programme, on 20-22 July 2010 WHO convened a working group meeting to initiate the revision of the WHO recommendations on the production and control of OPV as presently outlined in the Technical Reports Series (TRS) issues Nos. 904 and 910 [1] and [2]. The attendees included experts from academia, NRAs/NCLs and industry involved in the study, manufacture, and authorization and testing/release of OPV from countries around the world including representatives from China, the European Union, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, and the USA. The objective was to review the state of knowledge concerning production and control of OPV, with a focus on neurovirulence testing, to determine how the existing guidelines should be updated and what recommendations should be made for the future. The outcomes of this meeting will be taken into consideration in future revision of the WHO TRS.     

Japanese Encephalitis Vaccines: WHO position paper,February 2015 – Recommendations

This article presents the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommendations on the use of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccines excerpted from the WHO position paper on Japanese Encephalitis vaccines recently published in the Weekly Epidemiological Record [1]. This updated position paper on JE vaccines replaces the 2006 position paper on this subject [2]; it focuses on new information concerning the availability, safety, immunogenicity and effectiveness of JE vaccines and the duration of protection they confer. Recent data on global prevalence and burden of disease caused by JE and cost-effectiveness considerations regarding JE vaccination are also summarized.Footnotes to this paper provide a number of core references including references to grading tables that assess the quality of the scientific evidence. In accordance with its mandate to provide guidance to Member States on health policy matters, WHO issues a series of regularly updated position papers on vaccines and combinations of vaccines against diseases that have an international public health impact. These papers are concerned primarily with the use of vaccines in large-scale immunization programmes; they summarize essential background information on diseases and vaccines, and conclude with WHO's current position on the use of vaccines in the global context. This paper reflects the recommendations of WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization. These recommendations were discussed by SAGE at its October 2014 meeting. Evidence presented at the meeting can be accessed at http://www.who.int/immunization/sage/previous/en/index.html.     

Vaccines and vaccination against yellow fever: WHO Position Paper,June 2013—Recommendations

This article presents the World Health Organizations (WHO) evidence and recommendations for the use of yellow fever (YF) vaccination from “Vaccines and vaccination against yellow fever: WHO Position Paper – June 2013” published in the Weekly Epidemiological Record [1]. This position paper summarizes the WHO position on the use of YF vaccination, in particular that a single dose of YF vaccine is sufficient to confer sustained life-long protective immunity against YF disease. A booster dose is not necessary. The current document replaces the position paper on the use of yellow fever vaccines and vaccination published in 2003 [2].Footnotes to this paper provide a number of core references. In accordance with its mandate to provide guidance to Member States on health policy matters, WHO issues a series of regularly updated position papers on vaccines and combinations of vaccines against diseases that have an international public health impact. These papers are concerned primarily with the use of vaccines in large-scale immunization programmes; they summarize essential background information on diseases and vaccines, and conclude with WHO's current position on the use of vaccines in the global context. This paper reflects the recommendations of WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization. These recommendations were discussed by SAGE at its April 2013 meeting. Evidence presented at the meeting can be accessed at http://www.who.int/immunization/sage/previous/en/index.html.     

WHO working group meeting to amend WHO Recommendations to assure the quality,safety and efficacy of live attenuated yellow fever vaccines

The current WHO Recommendations to assure the quality, safety and efficacy of live attenuated yellow fever vaccines were adopted in 2010. This document recommends that vaccine virus master and working seed lots should be tested for viscerotropism, immunogenicity and neurovirulence in monkeys. A vaccine manufacturer has reported, recently, discrepancies on the clinical scoring of monkeys during assessment of working seed lots and suggested aligning neurotropism assessment of yellow fever vaccines virus seed lots with that of neurovirulence testing of polio vaccines virus seed lots. In this approach, clinical signs are recorded but do not form part of the assessment or pass/fail criteria. At its 71^st meeting in August 2020, the ECBS agreed to establish a drafting group and to consult with manufacturers and other stakeholders on the proposed amendment. Then a survey had been conducted to seek opinions of stakeholders on the neurotropism testing and revision of current WHO Recommendations for yellow fever vaccines. It was recognized from the answers of the survey that the test for neurovirulence in monkeys presents several technical challenges which could be addressed in the amended version of the Recommendations.On 18–19 March 2021, a virtual WHO working group meeting was held to discuss a proposed draft of the amended text with participants of yellow fever vaccine manufacturers and relevant regulators. Overall, there was a consensus among manufacturers and regulators that clinical evaluation provides important information and should be retained as part of the neurotropism test. However, there was also agreement that the test is somewhat subjective, and that analysis can be difficult. It was recognized that there was potential for improvement in both test execution and analysis to increase harmonization between manufacturers. Alternative tests to the non-human primates neurovirulence test would be useful but it was agreed that none seem to be sufficiently developed at present. Based on these working group discussions, it was proposed that the appendix on neurotropism test to be further revised by the WHO drafting group and submitted to ECBS for review and adoption.Issues other than neurotropism test were discussed in the meeting as well. There were a number of points identified during the meeting, such as new platform of production, animal models, deep sequencing, international standards, that are outside the current recommendations that are worthy of further discussion. Therefore, it is recommended that there would be a future meeting with various stakeholders to discuss the potential revision of the whole Recommendations for yellow fever vaccines in order to meet the current needs.     

Emerging infectious diseases: Memorandum from a WHO meeting

A meeting of international experts exchanged information on recent activities dealing with new, emerging and re-emerging diseases, discussed ways of responding to this problem and to other communicable disease threats, and reviewed WHO''s activities and role in this area. This Memorandum summarizes the various presentations and concludes with the recommendations and specific tasks for action at every level.     

Proceedings of the 2010 annual meeting of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Study Group

The annual meeting of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Study Group (FASDSG) was held on June 26, 2010 in San Antonio, TX, as a satellite of the Research Society on Alcoholism meeting. The FASDSG membership includes clinical, basic, and social scientists who meet to discuss recent advances and issues in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) research. The central theme of the meeting was “Glia and Neurons: Teamwork in Pathology and Therapy.” Alcohol disruption of neuron development and alcohol-induced neurodegeneration is central to the pathology and clinical expression of FASD. The active role of glia as perpetrator, victim, or bystander in neurotoxicology and neurodegenerative processes has emerged at the forefront of adult central nervous system (CNS) disorders and therapy. Glia- and neuron-glial interactions hold the potential to elucidate causes and offer treatment of FASD as well. Growing evidence indicates that neurons and glia are direct targets of alcohol, but may also be vulnerable to molecules produced in peripheral systems as a result of alcohol exposure. Diagnostics and therapies can take advantage of these processes and biomarkers, and these may be applicable to CNS pathology in FASD. Two keynote speakers, Howard E. Gendelman, M.D., and Ernest M. Graham, M.D, addressed the role of glia and neuroinflammation in brain development and neurodegeneration. The invited speakers and FASDSG members discussed new paradigms in CNS development and discuss new strategies for understanding and treating neurodegenerative disease. Members of the FASDSG provided updates on new findings through presentation of breaking research in the FASt data sessions. Representatives of national agencies provided updates on programs, activities, and funding priorities. The Henry Rosett Award was presented to R. Louise Floyd, R.N., D.S.N., for her career contributions to the field of fetal alcohol research. The Student and Postdoctoral Fellow Research Merit Award was presented to Shonagh O’Leary-Moore, Ph.D., for her contributions to the field as a young investigator.     

Epidemiology, prevention and control of legionellosis: memorandum from a WHO meeting.

This Memorandum describes the following aspects of legionellosis: clinical presentations of legionella infection, general epidemiology (including nosocomial outbreaks and travel-associated legionnaires'' disease), surveillance and reporting of cases, the organism and its environment, and measures for prevention and control. These topics were discussed by experts at a meeting in Geneva on 27-29 November 1989. This article also includes their conclusions and recommendations for research in critical areas including surveillance and preventive activities that have been found to be effective.     

Emerging infectious diseases: memorandum from a WHO meeting.

A meeting of international experts exchanged information on recent activities dealing with new, emerging and re-emerging diseases, discussed ways of responding to this problem and to other communicable disease threats, and reviewed WHO''s activities and role in this area. This Memorandum summarizes the various presentations and concludes with the recommendations and specific tasks for action at every level.     

Recommendations from the ASPH/Legacy Scholarship, Training, and Education Program for Tobacco Use Prevention (STEP UP) strategy planning meeting Chicago, May 3, 2005

During this meeting, the participants developed a strategic set of recommendations for ASPH to continue to advance the study of tobacco control in public health through research and education/training programs. The meeting focused on sustaining and further developing tobacco-related research and education/ training programs. All four issues were addressed in depth through valuable discussion and exchange and reflected in the nine areas of focus. Recommendations for advocacy for future funding for SPH in tobacco control included developing collaborative relationships with ASPH partners, organizations, and institutions with complementary objectives (state departments of health, third party payors, etc). Priorities for sustaining and further developing research and education/training programs within SPH included developing a focus on particular research areas (e.g., special populations, economic issues, dissemination and translational issues), building on existing knowledge, and attempting to avoid the effects of "siloing" with collaborative relationships and methods for addressing the sustenance of programs beyond initial funding periods. Methods to maintain vigilance on tobacco control with increasing concerns about other risk factors included fostering an increasing awareness of tobacco-related issues, projects, and programs as well as developing collaborative relationships with organizations and institutions with complementary health-risk related objectives. Other recommendations focused on enhancing SPH leadership in the tobacco control field by developing standards and methodologies and translating research to practice. They included (1) developing standards for consistent tobacco control-related education to public health students, public health professionals, and other students and professionals; (2) developing a standardized method for evaluating tobacco-attributable factors and effects; and (3) conducting effectiveness trials of treatments known to be efficacious. Effectively addressing these perennial issues will enable SPH to enhance its leadership position and contribute greatly to research and education/training in tobacco control. All of these issues were factors in program planning for the second National STEP UP Academic Tobacco Workshop. For instance, reviews of particular research areas might be offered or facilitated as well as methods for developing collaborative partnerships and subsequent efforts. Steps toward the development of tobacco control education core competencies might be developed as well. The second National STEP UP Academic Tobacco Workshop-STEP UP to Sustain Tobacco Control and Prevention through Education and Research--was held on January 30-31, 2006. The topics of discussion ranged from use of secondary data to behavioral economics. More information about the workshop can be found at http://www.asph.org/ document.cfm?page=882. Attention to the recommendations that resulted from the planning meeting will provide a strategic platform from which ASPH and the public health community can continue to address the single greatest cause of preventable disease and death in the world.