title: Developing WHO rapid advice guidelines in the setting of a public health emergency.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We describe newly established guidance for guideline developers at the World Health Organization (WHO) on the process and procedures for developing a rapid advice guideline in the context of a public health emergency (e.g., the 2014 Ebola epidemic).
  
  
  METHODS
  We based our approach on established rapid review methods, which were incorporated into existing WHO guideline development processes. Guidance was further informed by in-depth discussions of issues related to rapid guideline development with WHO staff (n = 6), who oversee the Organization's response to emergencies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We discuss criteria for considering if a rapid advice guideline is appropriate and feasible and outline the roles of various contributors across the phases of development. Further, we describe the methods and steps involved in performing rapid reviews, which are more fluid and iterative than for a standard guideline process. In general, rapid advice guidelines involve a shorter timeline, narrower scope, and the use of abbreviated methods for the evidence review.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Important differences exist between developing a standard guideline and a rapid advice guideline. However, the core principles for WHO guidelines apply to rapid advice guidelines including minimizing bias, applying transparent processes and the use of explicit methods.
authors: Ottawa Methods Centre, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, 501 Smyth Road, Box 201B, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L6, Canada; Translational Research in Biomedicine (TRIBE) Program, University of Split School of Medicine, Šoltanska 2, 21000 Split, Croatia. Electronic address: cgarritty@ohri.ca.
authors: Chantelle M
authors: CM
authors: Garritty
authors: World Health Organization, Av. Appia 20, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland.
authors: Susan L
authors: SL
authors: Norris
authors: Ottawa Methods Centre, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, 501 Smyth Road, Box 201B, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L6, Canada; School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Roger-Guindon Building, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8M5, Canada.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Moher
mesh_terms: D019468:Disease Management; D004630:Emergencies; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health / Q000379:methods*; D014944:World Health Organization
keywords: Accelerated development; Guideline; Methodology; Policy making; Public health; Rapid reviews; Recommendations