Global plan for insecticide resistance management in malaria vectors

Part 2Collective strategy against insecticide resistanceThe new paradigms under development fall into four maincategories:• Spatial repellents: Repellents cause vectors to moveaway from the treated space and therefore prevent bloodfeeding;• Area-wide treatments: These treatments alter genes in abroad vector population to change their traits;• Traps and targets: Baited traps attract vectors to sites thatexpose them to insecticides;• Animal treatments: Animals in frequent contact withvectors, such as cattle, are treated with an agent that isnot harmful to them but inhibits vector survival.Strengthen capacity for faster flow of new products.There is not currently a defined system for evaluating the evidencefor new forms of vector control. Therefore, WHO has proposed thecreation of a ‘vector control advisory group’ (VCAG) to make initialrecommendations regarding new vector control tools for publichealth purposes. This would apply to the development of vectorcontrol tools for both malaria and other vector-borne diseases. Thegroup would consist of experts from a range of entomological andvector control disciplines. It would help the development of newand innovative vector control tools by clarifying and acceleratingthe process by which these are recommended for, and adopted in,public health practice. One of its roles would be to consider ‘proofof principle’, i.e. whether the new intervention is effective for somedefined public health purpose and, under defined circumstances,will be useful and feasible for its intended user. Once ‘proof ofprinciple’ has been established by the group, the responsibility forspecific product assessment would pass to WHOPES.If the new tool is destined for malaria control purposes, policyrecommendations would be made by the Malaria Policy AdvisoryCommittee (MPAC) convened by the WHO Global MalariaProgramme. If, however, the new tool has been developed forapplication in the control of other vector-borne diseases, policyrecommendations would be made by the Department of Control ofNeglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) and its Strategic and TechnicalAdvisory Group (STAG) for vector-borne neglected and tropicaldiseases.WHOPES was established in 1960 to promote and coordinate thetesting and evaluation of pesticides for public health. Its globalobjectives are to facilitate the search for alternative pesticides andapplication methods that are safe and cost-effective and to designand promote policies, strategies and guidelines for the selective,judicious application of pesticides for public health. In addition, itassists and monitors their implementation by Member States. Itstesting and evaluation programme is illustrated in Figure 26.Figure 26: Four-phase testing and evaluation programme of the WHO Pesticide Evaluation Scheme (WHOPES)Application: conditions,procedure, requirementsWHOPES workinggroupWHO/FAO panel ofexpertsLaboratorySmallscalefieldstudiesLarge-scalefield studiesSpecificationsSafety, efficacy, operational acceptability, quality standardWHO guidelines:procedure, criteriaFAO/WHOmanual(specifications)From the WHO Pesticide Evaluation Scheme (WHOPES)66GLOBAL PLAN FOR INSECTICIDE RESISTANCE MANAGEMENT IN MALARIA VECTORS (GPIRM)