Guidelines Development Group

The chairs of the Guidelines Development Group were Olufunmilayo Lesi (University of Lagos/Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria) and Brian McMahon (Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Alaska, USA). Nandi Siegfried (South African Cochrane Centre, Medical Research Council of South Africa) was the guidelines methodologist.

The following experts served on the Guidelines Development Group:

Priya Abraham (Christian Medical College & Hospital, India); Avelin F Aghokeng (Virology Laboratory CREMER/IMPM/IRD, Cameroon); Isabelle Andrieux-Meyer (Médecins Sans Frontières, Switzerland); Joan Block (Hepatitis B Foundation, USA); Milagros Davalos Moscol (Hospital Edgardo Rebagliati, Peru); Manal Hamdy El-Sayed (Ain Shams University, Egypt); Charles Gore (World Hepatitis Alliance, Switzerland); Kwang Hyub Han (Yonsei University, South Korea); Jidong Jia (Capital Medical University, China); Ahmed Khatib (Ministry of Health, Tanzania); Giten Khwairakpam (TREAT Asia/amfAR, Thailand); Karine Lacombe (Hôpital Saint-Antoine, Sorbonne-Universités, France); Nancy Leung (Asiahep Hong Kong Ltd, Hong Kong); Anna Lok (University of Michigan and American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, USA); Ponsiano Ocama (Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Uganda); Huma Qureshi (Pakistan Medical Research Council, Pakistan); Lewis Roberts (Mayo Clinic, USA); Edna Strauss (University of São Paulo, Brazil); Ali Sulaiman (University of Indonesia – Faculty of Medicine, Indonesia); Mark Thursz (Imperial College Faculty of Medicine, UK); Cihan Yurdaydin (University of Ankara Medical School, Turkey).

External peer review group

We thank the following experts for reviewing the final guidelines document and providing valuable input.

Adele Benzaken (Ministry of Health, Brazil), Nikoloz Chkhartishvili (Infectious Diseases, AIDS and Clinical Immunology Research Centre, Georgia), Serge Eholie (Trichville Hospital, Ivory Coast), Shaffiq Essajee (Clinton Health Access Initiative, USA), Silvia Franceschi (International Agency for Research on Cancer, France), Nina Grundmann (International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manafacturers and Associations, Switzerland), Margaret Hellard (Burnet Institute, Australia), Karen Kyuregyan (Ministry of Health, Russia), Seng Gee Lim (National University of Singapore, Singapore), David Muljono (Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology, Indonesia), Samuel So (Stanford University, USA), George Siberry (National Institutes of Health, USA), Mark Sonderup (University of Cape Town & Groote Schuur Hospital, South Africa), Vincent Soriano (IdiPAZLa Paz University Hospital & Autonomous University, Spain), Mihai Voiculescu (BalkanHep, Romania), Gilles Wandeler (University of Bern, Switzerland).

Contributors to the systematic reviews

We would like to credit the following researchers for conducting the systematic reviews, evidence profiles and GRADE tables: Ivan Solà, David Rigau Comas (Centre Cochrane Iberoamericà, Spain); Victoria Wakefield, Charlotta Karner (BMJ – Technology Assessment Group, London, UK); Emmanouil Tsochatzis (Royal Free Sheila Sherlock Liver Centre and UCL Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, UCL and Royal Free Hospital, UK).

We appreciate the contribution from Grammati Sarri and Jill Parnham (National Clinical Guideline Centre [NCGC], Royal College of Physicians, UK) for providing technical presentations and sharing their network meta-analyses with the Guidelines Development Group.

Overall coordination

Philippa Easterbrook (Global Hepatitis Programme) coordinated the guidelines development.

Steering Committee

The following WHO staff formed the Guidelines Steering Committee:

Philippa Easterbrook, Stefan Wiktor, Tatsuya Yamashita (Global Hepatitis Programme, HIV Department); Marco Vitoria, Nathan Shaffer, Jessica Markby, Annette Verster (HIV Department); Anita Sands, Ana Padilla (Essential Medicines and Health Products); Neelam Dhingra-Kumar (Blood Safety); Ana Maria Henao Restrepo (Immunization, Vaccines, and Biologicals); Benedetta Allegranzi, Selma Khamassi (Injection Safety); Ying-Ru Lo (HIV & STI, WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific).

The guidelines were drafted by Geoffrey Dusheiko (UCL Institute of Liver and Digestive Health, Royal Free Hospital, UK) and Philippa Easterbrook (Global Hepatitis Programme, WHO). Additional contributions were provided by Emmanouil Tsochatzis (Royal Free Sheila Sherlock Liver Centre and UCL Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, UCL and Royal Free Hospital, UK), Huma Qureshi (Pakistan Medical Research Council, Pakistan), and Karine Lacombe (Hôpital Saint-Antoine, Sorbonne-Universités, France). Drafts were reviewed and input provided by the members of the Guidelines Development Group, peer reviewers, and WHO Secretariat staff. Bandana Malhotra edited the document.

We extend our gratitude to the following consultants and interns for excellent support to the steering committee and the Guidelines Development Group: Ioannis Hodges-Mameletzis, Sarah Hess, and Zainab Hussain. We also thank other WHO staff for peer review of the guidelines: Karen Hennesey (Expanded Programme on Immunization), Selma Khamassi (Injection Safety), Jessica Markby, Vincent Habiyambere, Francoise Renaud, Oyuntungalag Namjilsuren (HIV Department) Annabel Baddeley, Haileyesus Getahun (TB Department), Anita Sands (Essential Medicines & Health Products), Vason Pinyowiwat (WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia), Masaya Kato, Amitabh Suthar (WHO Country Office Viet Nam), Nick Walsh (WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific).

Funding

Funding for the development of these guidelines was provided by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.