WHO issued a Call to Action and Consensus Statement to prioritize pregnant and lactating women in TB research to urge the global health community to end the routine exclusion of pregnant and lactating women from TB research. Dr. Lyerly was a member of the WHO working group that contributed to this guidance.
Overview from the Call to Action and Consensus Statement
The Call to Action accompanies the consensus statement on the optimal and early inclusion of pregnant and lactating women in tuberculosis research and specifies the actions that need to be taken to ensure full implementation of the agreed approaches in the statement.
The Consensus Statement summarizes the consensus process, which included five thematic working groups (covering preclinical TB research, TB therapeutics research, TB vaccine research, maternal TB surveillance systems, and advocacy), evidence reviews to address gaps in data and knowledge and a consensus meeting in February 2025. The approaches to earlier and optimal inclusion arising from the consensus process include crosscutting actions as well as approaches specific to each working group theme.