Translating evidence into practice with the National Advisory Committee on Sexually Transmitted and Blood-Borne Infections.

Abstract

For over 30 years, the Government of Canada has developed guidelines on sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI) with a group of subject matter experts. This expert group provided advice to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) from 2004 to 2019; transitioning to the National Advisory Committee on STBBI (NAC-STBBI) in 2019. NAC-STBBI supports PHAC's mandate to prevent and control infectious diseases by providing advice for the development of STBBI guidelines. The methodology for developing the NAC-STBBI recommendations is evolving to a more rigorous, systematic and transparent process that is consistent with current standards in guideline development. It is also informed by-and aligned with-the methods of several other major guideline developers. The methodology incorporates the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach, as appropriate, when conducting evidence reviews and developing recommendations. Recommendations will be published on the canada.ca website with the supporting NAC-STBBI Statement detailing the methodology and evidence used to develop them. This process will ensure that PHAC provides trustworthy evidence-based STBBI recommendations to primary care providers and public health professionals.