Micronutrients evidence-informed guidelines

WHO has developed the present evidence-informed recommendations using the procedures outlined in the WHO Handbook for guideline development. The steps in this process included: (i) identification of priority questions and outcomes; (ii) evidence retrieval; (iii) assessment and synthesis of the evidence; (iv) formulation of recommendations, including research priorities; and (v) planning for dissemination, implementation, impact evaluation and updating. Using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology, evidence profiles related to preselected topics were prepared based on up-to-date systematic reviews.

Supplementation

• Guideline: Neonatal vitamin A supplementation
• Guideline: Vitamin A supplementation for infants 1–5 months of age
• Guideline: Vitamin A supplementation for infants and children 6-59 months of age
• Guideline: Vitamin A supplementation in pregnant women
• Guideline: Vitamin A supplementation in postpartum women
• Guideline: Vitamin A supplementation during pregnancy for reducing the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV

• Guideline: Intermittent iron supplementation in preschool and school-age children
• Guideline: Intermittent iron and folic acid supplementation in menstruating women

• Guideline: Daily iron and folic acid supplementation in pregnant women (in press)
• Guideline: Intermittent iron and folic acid supplementation in non-anaemic pregnant women (in press)

Point-of-use fortification of foods

• Guideline: Use of multiple micronutrient powders for home fortification of foods consumed by infants and children 6–23 months of age
• Guideline: Use of multiple micronutrient powders for home fortification of foods consumed by pregnant women

Fortification

• Recommendations on wheat and maize flour fortification meeting report: Interim Consensus Statement

Others

• WHO recommendations for prevention and treatment of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia

• Guideline: Iron interventions in areas where malaria transmission occurs (in press)

Acknowledgments

These guidelines were completed as part of the general programme of work of the Evidence and Programme Guidance Unit, Department of Nutrition for Health and Development, WHO Geneva.

The Evidence and Programme Guidance Unit receives grants from the Micronutrient Initiative (MI), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s International Micronutrient Malnutrition Prevention and Control Program (IMMPaCt), Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), and the Government of Luxembourg. Donors do not fund specific guidelines and do not participate in any decision related to the guideline development process including the composition of research questions, membership of the guideline groups, the conduct and interpretation of systematic reviews, or the formulation of recommendations.