RetourTo conform with World Health Organization (WHO) rules and regulations, all external contributors to these guidelines were invited to declare in writing any competing interests (financial, academic or intellectual) at the time of the invitation to participate in the guideline development process. All members of the Guideline Development Group, External Review Group, experts who conducted the systematic reviews, and other technical experts participating in this process completed and submitted a WHO declaration of interest (DOI) form. All experts were instructed to notify the responsible technical officer of any change in relevant interests during this process, in order to review and update conflicts of interest accordingly. As per WHO rules, the objectives of the guideline development process and the composition of the Guideline Development Group, including member biographies, were made public ahead of the meeting.¹ This public notice was conducted to allow the public to provide comments pertinent to any competing interests that may have gone unnoticed or that may not have been reported during earlier assessments.
All competing interests identified and disclosed during the assessment were discussed and managed in coordination with the WHO Guideline Steering Committee and under the guidance of the WHO Compliance and Risk Management and Ethics Office.
At the in-person meeting, all external contributors were again required to state any new interests that could be perceived as affecting the neutrality of the process.
The following Guideline Development Group members declared no interests: Sujata Baveja, Andra Cīrule, Rod Escombe, Paul Jensen, Timpiyian Leseni, Shaheen Mehtar, Lindiwe Mvusi, Edward Nardell, Nguyen Viet Nhung, Isabel Ochoa-Delgado, Rohit Sarin, Holger Schünemann, Charles Ssonko, Sabira Tahseen and Grigory V. Volchenkov. Three members declared that they had received honoraria for carrying out training activities or had provided consulting services on the subject of this WHO meeting. One member also disclosed financial interests as a result for work not relevant to the recommendations. The following External Review Group members declared no interests related to the objects of this meeting: Helen Cox, Philipp du Cros, Nii Nortey HansonNortey and Kitty van Weezenbeek. Marieke van der Werf did not complete a WHO DOI form because her involvement in the peerreview process is as a representative of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Two additional members declared financial interests. Five members of the systematic review teams declared no interests: Wai Lai Chang, Katherine Fielding, Jennifer Ho, Aaron Karat and Lisa Redwood. Meghann Gregg and Rebecca Harris declared that they had received honoraria from pharmaceutical companies for work not related to TB, and Greg Fox declared receipt of a monetary award from the industry to support participation at a conference. David Moore indicated other interests that were deemed not significant.
Detailed information on the DOI statements and their management is given in Annex 2.
¹ Tuberculosis infection control. Geneva: World Health Organization; (https://www.who.int/tb/areas-of-work/ preventive-care/infection-control/en/, accessed 18 December 2018).