Report of the WHO Information Session for civil society representatives on the WHO guidelines development process with focus on TB guidelines
9 October 2019, GENEVA - The World Health Organization (WHO) convened an Information Session for civil society representatives through webinar to provide an update on the WHO guidelines development process, with a focus on TB guidelines. The webinar was co-organized by WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Programme and Department on Quality, Norms and Standards of the Science Division, with participation from the Office of Compliance, Risk Management and Ethics. The Session was held on 9 October 2019, as part of an ongoing dialogue between WHO and civil society representatives. Over 250 representatives from civil society, partners and other stakeholders registered for the webinar. The information session was opened by Tereza Kasaeva, Director of the WHO Global TB Programme, who reiterated WHO’s close collaboration with civil society over the past years under the leadership of the WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
John Grove, Director of the Department of Quality, Norms and Standards in the Science Division, presented an overview of the overarching WHO guidelines process including the work the department is doing to review the current process for guidelines and other norms and standards development, public involvement and the role of observers to increase transparency and efficacy of WHO normative product methods and processes. He reiterated that members of the guidelines development group should be free from conflict of interest and should be representative of geography, gender and all groups affected by the recommendations. Matteo Zignol, Team Leader, Global TB Programme, presented the development process of TB specific guidelines, including on treatment of latent TB infection, treatment of drug-resistant TB, molecular assays intended as initial tests for the diagnosis of pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB in adults and children. He highlighted the background for the update of these guidelines, the process followed to secure public comment, the timeline and next steps towards finalizations of the guidelines and accompanying implementation guides (download the presentation). The presentations were followed by a Question & Answer session moderated by Monica Dias from the Global TB Programme to address queries from the participants.
Questions discussed during the webinar included:
- Feedback on the WHO guideline development process
- Criteria and participation of civil society representatives on Guideline Development Groups in close collaboration with Civil Society Task Force on TB
- The importance of end user surveys to assess how countries are using and implementing WHO guidelines
- Management of public comments received on the WHO Guidelines on treatment of latent TB infection, treatment of drug-resistant TB, molecular assays intended as initial tests for the diagnosis of pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB in adults and children
- Timelines for finalization of the three guidelines
- Linkages between guidelines and implementation documents (operational guidance/companion handbook)
- The value of Rapid Communication to ensue early communication of key changes in recommendations
Source: WHO