CITATION: Bull World Health Organ. 2026 Aug 1;104(8):526–526A. doi: 10.2471/BLT.26.296819
WHO guidance for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: why it matters
Tara Ballav Adhikari et al.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13404220/
In a previous message we noted the importance of national capacity to integrate international guidelines from WHO with local research and evidence.
I was interested to see this new paper from Tara Ballav Adhikari (formerly global coorindator for HIFA country representatives) and colleagues. They describe an upcoming WHO guideline and conclude: 'Guideline publication alone will not improve outcomes. Impact will depend on effective adaptation, integration into health systems and sustained investment in primary health care. The success of the guidelines will be measured by how effectively they enable countries to translate evidence into equitable, implementable care at scale.'
They also state: 'Non-WHO guidelines for chronic respiratory diseases play an important role in synthesizing clinical evidence and defining standards of care. However, such guidelines are frequently based on high-income contexts and may assume availability of advanced diagnostics and infrastructure. While scientifically robust, these assumptions can limit their applicability in lower-resource settings'
I would add that non-WHO guidelines are not always as scientifically robust as WHO guidelines. Further, the development of multiple guidelines can lead to duplication of effort and different recommendations that may cause confusion among policymakers and practitioners.
There is a case for better coordination among global guideline developers and support for the development and implementation of country-level guidelines.
This is also a challenge for WHO international guideline developers. They need to develop guidelines that are not only robust, but maximally useful for member states to adapt.
HIFA welcomes comments from those who have been involved in WHO guideline development, and in the development and implementation of national guidelines.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org