Guidelines development

Recommendations in WHO guidelines are based on sound scientific evidence. Fundamental steps in the process for guideline development include formulating key questions, evidence retrieval and synthesis, and appraisal of the quality of the evidence. But the methods used in these steps were originally conceived for the development of clinical interventions as part of the evidence-based medicine movement.

Today, WHO develops guidelines on a broad array of clinical, public health, health system, health promotion and implementation strategies. These interventions are often highly context-specific, with multiple factors that directly and indirectly impact the health and societal outcomes.