WHO Guidance for efficacy testing and risk assessment
The WHO Vector Ecology and Management Unit supports product assessment in the following ways:
- It publishes and updates normative guidance about efficacy testing and risk assessment of public health pesticides;
and
- It develops standard operating procedures for laboratory and field testing of products.
For pesticide registration, the following WHO outputs are of particular importance:
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Standard operating procedures for laboratory and field testing of efficacy of public health pesticides;
A series of internationally validated guidelines is available for efficacy testing of vector control pesticides. These guidelines are followed by many public and private institutions that conduct efficacy trials and are a requirement for the WHO prequalification of vector control products.
The Vector Control Advisory Group provides further guidance on efficacy testing for new vector control products.
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Guidelines for risk assessment of public health pesticides;
A number of generic risk assessment models has been elaborated for the main public health pesticide uses, such as indoor residual spraying, space spraying, insecticide-treated nets, etc.
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Specifications for quality control of public health pesticides;
WHO establishes and publishes for each prequalified vector control product specifications for technical materials and related formulations of public health pesticides as an international point of reference against which products can be judged either for regulatory purposes or in commercial dealings. This work is done in collaboration with FAO.
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Operational guidelines in surveillance and vector control.
WHO Vector Ecology and Management Unit publishes operational guidelines on good vector control practices as well as testing procedures for monitoring vector resistance to pesticides.
More information on the direct evaluation of individual vector control products (“prequalification”) by WHO is provided elsewhere.