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Can global guidelines change health policy?

Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology volume 5, pages 120–121 (2008)Cite this article

How can global guidelines have an impact on, support or help to change health policy? There are considerable infrastructural limitations to the provision of health care throughout the world, especially in poorer nations where health care has to compete for scarce resources with other national needs and priorities.1 Needs and priorities related to health care differ greatly throughout the world: malaria, for example, might not be a major priority in Canada but it is in many African countries.

For global guidelines to gain acceptance and influence health policy at national, regional and local levels, local involvement in their development and implementation is essential. The ability of a global guideline to have an impact on health care in a developing country will also be critically influenced by the availability of resources, by an understanding by the intended target population of the guideline-making process and a realization that benefits will accrue through their participation in the implementation of the guideline.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Michael Fried is Director of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University Hospital Zürich, Zürich Switzerland,

    M Fried

  2. Eamonn MM Quigley is President of the World Gastroenterology Organisation and Professor of Medicine and Human Physiology at the University College Cork, Cork, Ireland,

    EMM Quigley

  3. Richard H Hunt is Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology at McMaster University Health Science Centre, Hamilton, ON, Canada,

    RH Hunt

  4. Gordon Guyatt is a Professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Department of Medicine at McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada,

    G Guyatt

  5. Benjamin O Anderson is Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington, Joint Member at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA, USA, and Chair and Director of the Breast Health Global Initiative,

    BO Anderson

  6. David J Bjorkman is Dean of the University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA,

    DJ Bjorkman

  7. Michael JG Farthing is the Vice Chancellor of the University of Sussex, Brighton, UK,

    MJG Farthing

  8. Suleiman S Fedail is Chairman of Fedail Medical Center, Khartoum, Sudan,

    SS Fedail

  9. Ronald Green-Thompson is a Professor in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Department of Health, Durban, South Africa,

    R Green-Thompson

  10. John Hampton is Emeritus Professor of Cardiology at the Queens Medical Centre, University Hospital of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK,

    J Hampton

  11. Justus Krabshuis is Director of Highland Data, Tourtoirac, France,

    J Krabshuis

  12. Loren Laine is Professor of Medicine at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA,

    L Laine

  13. Richard Horton is Editor-In-Chief of The Lancet, London, UK,

    R Horton

Authors
  1. M Fried
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  2. EMM Quigley
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  3. RH Hunt
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  4. G Guyatt
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  7. MJG Farthing
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  8. SS Fedail
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  9. R Green-Thompson
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  10. J Hampton
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  11. J Krabshuis
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  12. L Laine
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  13. R Horton
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M Fried.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Fried, M., Quigley, E., Hunt, R. et al. Can global guidelines change health policy?. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 5, 120–121 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpgasthep0998

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