WHO Launches First Online Portal for STI Vaccine Development

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by Iqra Zafar

07-09-2022
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Zimbabwe: World Health Organization (WHO) launches the first online tool for the development of STI vaccine at the 23rd IUSTI World Congress. The announcement was made on the event 23rd IUSTI (International Union Against Sexually Transmitted Infections) World Congress is happening at Victoria Falls from 4-7 Sept. The portal and STI launch will help with the STI vaccine development.

STIs are recognized for their impact on sexual and reproductive health and put an immense burden on public health. For the past several decades, there have been efforts to control the spread of STIs. From safe practices to advancements in testing techniques, the global rates of STIs remain uncontrolled.

STI vaccine development is the hope to prevent the spread of STIs but there are many challenges. Several organizations are working towards the cause and looking for the social and epidemiological impact of the diseases. In a recent event, organized by IUSTI, health officials discussed the global health strategies for the control of STIs for 2022-2030.

 

To advance the vaccine development for STIs, a tool was launched by WHO named STI Watch. This launch is a collaborative effort between WHO, AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) and the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). This is the first online portal that serves as a road map for STI vaccine development.

This online tool will help to pace the development of STI vaccines. The layout of vaccine development was devised by WHO and NIAID alongside other stakeholders. This layout includes the following steps: assessment of the requirement of the vaccine, the definition of product characteristics, and outline of the vaccine development pathway which is then followed by the trials and licensing of these vaccines.

Further, AVAC will also help to form a web-based clearinghouse to improve vaccines profile globally. The development of several STI vaccines is already in progress against a variety of disease-causing pathogens.