It is incumbent upon the member to update this disclosure should his/her personal situation change. Members, representatives and consultants are expected to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner and in accordance with the NACI guidelines. In situations where a conflict of interests or the appearance thereof inhibitors arises in the course of the work of the committee,

the individual involved must declare its existence and either work with the Executive Secretary to resolve the this website conflict, or if necessary, disqualify himself/herself from participation in the discussion or from further participation on the committee according to the circumstances of specific situations. In January 2009, NACI formally introduced its process to develop and grade evidence-based recommendations through the publication of its Statement: “Evidence-based recommendations for immunization—Methods

of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization” (available at: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/ccdr-rmtc/09vol35/acs-1/index-eng.php). Publication of this process is intended to provide a transparent and clear description Selleck Ku-0059436 of the methods used for retrieving, synthesizing and weighing evidence that leads to a NACI recommendation. In brief, the stages for the development of NACI recommendations are: 1. Knowledge synthesis (retrieval and summary of individual studies on vaccine safety, efficacy, immunogenicity, effectiveness, ranking of the level and quality of evidence of each study). The relevant NACI Working Group is responsible for establishing the scope of and requirements for the literature review. Ketanserin The literature review may be contracted out to an external group/consultant, or performed within the PHAC. As part of the literature review, evidence tables are assembled in which each study is assigned a level of evidence based on research design (e.g. Level I for evidence from randomized controlled trials) and an assessment of the quality (internal validity) of the study is made (i.e. Good, Fair, Poor-based on design-specific criteria as outlined in Harris et

al., 2001 [4]). The full knowledge synthesis includes a review of the product monograph, scientific literature on the burden of disease (epidemiology, morbidity, mortality) in the population in general and in specific risk groups, vaccine characteristics (e.g. safety, immunogenicity, efficacy, effectiveness), in addition to various scientific factors outlined in “An Analytic Framework for Immunization Programs in Canada” [5]. Recommendations from other groups (e.g. WHO, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, Canadian Pediatric Society) are reviewed. The Working Group prepares recommendation options for consideration by the full NACI committee. The Medical Lead and the NACI Working Group Chair review all individual studies, but all the assembled evidence is available to the Working Group and to NACI.