This guideline document was produced by the Department of Reproductive Health and Research (RHR), World Health Organization (WHO), under the leadership of Dr Igor Toskin. The expertise and support of many people have made the development of this guideline possible. This guideline document development process was initiated following an expert consultation in 2010, which was supported by WHO.

WHO would like to thank the members of the Guideline Development Group (GDG): Tamara Adrián-Hernandez, Elham Atalla, George Ayala, Bergen Hope Cooper, John Munroe Douglas, Emily Maria Godfrey, Sharful Islam Khan, Barbara Klugman, Regina Kulier, Charlotta Löfgren-Mårtenson, Geetanjali Misra, Patanjali Dev Nayar, Rafael Mazin Reynoso, Thierry Troussier, Marlene Freida Wasserman and Christine Winkelmann. This guideline document is based on discussions at the WHO GDG meetings and ongoing inputs from members of the GDG and peer reviewers. Thierry Troussier, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chaire Santé sexuelle et Droits humains, Fonds de Dotation Human Earth, France co-chaired the GDG with Barbara Klugman, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, and Dr Klugman drafted this guideline document. Bergen Cooper, WHO Consultant, USA and Regina Kulier, Fondation PROFA, Switzerland carried out the evidence reviews that support this guideline document. The WHO Steering Group, which offered advice throughout the development of this guideline document, included Moazzam Ali, Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli, Claudia García-Moreno, Mary Eluned Gaffield, Metin Gülmezoglu and Igor Toskin of RHR, WHO/HQ; Beverly Jane Ferguson, Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (MCA), WHO/HQ; Vladimir Poznyak, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse (MSB), WHO/HQ; Tomas John Allen, Library and Information Networks for Knowledge (LNK), WHO/HQ; Antonio Carlos Gerbase (Senior consultant, STI & HIV/AIDS, retired). The WHO Steering Group would like to thank Dr Susan L. Norris, Secretariat WHO Guidelines Review Committee, Ms Elizabeth Noble, communications specialist, and Mrs Sofia de Vasconcelos, volunteer to the Department of Reproductive Health and Research, for the overall support they provided on the final phase of the guideline development and review. Many thanks to the following individuals for their peer review: Dr Christine Dehlendorf, University of California, San Francisco, USA; Ms Julie Fitter, Clinical Service Manager/Sex and Relationship Psychotherapist/MSc Course Leader, Porterbrook Clinic, Sheffield, UK; and Prof John de Wit, Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW, Australia on the recommendation of the World Organization of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations of General Practitioners/Family Physicians (WONCA).

This guideline document was edited by Green Ink, UK (greenink.co.uk).