Individuals were selected to be members of the Expert Group to represent and balance important perspectives for the process of formulating recommendations. The Expert Group therefore included technical experts, end-users, patient representatives and evidence synthesis methodologists.
Interchange by Expert Group meeting participants was restricted to those who attended the Expert Group meeting in person, both for the discussion and follow-up dialogue.
Expert Group members were asked to submit completed Declaration of Interest (DOI) forms. These were reviewed by the WHO legal department prior to the Expert Group meeting. DOI statements were summarised by the co-chair (Karin Weyer, WHO-STB) of the Expert Group meeting at the start of the meeting.
Selected individuals with intellectual and/or research involvement in serodiagnostic methods were invited as observers to provide technical input and answer technical questions. These individuals did not participate in the GRADE evaluation process and were excluded from the Expert Group discussions when recommendations were developed. They were also not involved in the development of the final Expert Group meeting reports, nor in preparation of the STAG-TB documentation or preparation of the final WHO policy statements.
Two Expert Group members (Catharina Boehme, Rick O'Brien) declared FIND (Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics) support to academia to develop POC serodiagnostic test via the FIND biomarker discovery project. These declarations were deemed to be insignificant.
Three Expert Group members (David Dowdy, Madhukar Pai, Sumaan Laal) declared involvement in relevant research and participation in the systematic review. Karen Steingart declared her role as principal systematic reviewer. These declarations were deemed to be significant and members were observers to the meeting, providing technical clarifications on the findings of the systematic review. They did not participate in the GRADE evaluation process, contributed to the meeting discussions where recommendations were developed, or provided comments on the final document.
