The International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH), on behalf of the international thrombosis community, have called on the World Health Organisation (WHO) to share learning and support a systematic approach for managing venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with COVID-19.
In a multinational consensus statement—published 15 July—the ISTH, on behalf of numerous national, continental, and international clinical representative organisations, “urgently calls on the WHO to endorse and share the application of a system-wide approach to VTE management on a global scale, as part of the international COVID-19 response”.
The statement reads that, while the WHO should be congratulated on the publication of interim guidance on the clinical management of hospitalised patients with COVID-19, “more must be done to meet the needs of front-line clinicians caring for patients with COVID-19 to ensure quality care”. They ISTH reference in particular a need to address “significant gaps” in expert clinical guidance surrounding the prevention and management of VTE in COVID-19 patients.
Concluding, the international thrombosis community emphasises the importance of the matter: “Until there is a vaccine for COVID-19, there is no better way to address this public health challenge than for the WHO to prioritise the development of systematic and integrated approaches to COVID-19-related VTE prevention that can be implemented in secondary and tertiary settings globally.”
