Invitation to participate in survey to establish the first WHO fungal priority pathogens list

WHO is inviting experts and professionals involved in anti-fungal healthcare delivery and/or human mycology research to participate in a global survey to develop the first fungal priority pathogens list (FPPL) of public health importance.

Recognizing the public health threat of fungal infections and the rise in antifungal resistance, WHO is developing the first global fungal priority pathogens list (FPPL) to define research and development (R&D) priorities to align investments with public health needs. [1]

Methodology:

To develop the FPPL, a list of fungal pathogens will be described according to pre-defined criteria (e.g. mortality, prevalence of drug resistance).  Systematic literature reviews will be conducted for each pathogen to inform the process. Discrete Choice Experiments (DCE) Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methods, will then be used to determine the ranking, and the importance weights for the predefined criteria. The survey is part of the MCDA methodology.

This MCDA methodology was previously used in developing the 2017 WHO bacterial priority pathogens list, and follows the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) guidance from 2015.

Targeted Profiles:

To ensure the representativeness of the FPPL, WHO is seeking the input of experts and professionals involved in anti-fungal healthcare delivery and research, including:

• Mycologist with focus on human health (doctors, microbiologists, pharmacists, epidemiologists, and other scientists).
• Other healthcare providers treating populations at higher risk for fungal infections, such as immunocompromised patients, including infectious diseases doctors, HIV and TB specialists, pulmonologists, oncologists, neurologists managing CNS fungal infections), or surgeons from specialized centers (e.g. managing organ transplant patients, or some invasive fungal infections such mycetoma).

To participate in this survey:
https://www.who.int/news-room/articles-detail/invitation-to-participate-in-survey-to-establish-the-first-who-fungal-priority-pathogens-list-(fppl)