Periodically, the World Health Organization (WHO) brings together a group of experts in reproductive health, called the Guidelines Development Group, to update the international guide called Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use . Contraceptives ) , a set of recommendations based on scientific evidence that guide the prescription of contraceptive methods in special clinical situations, such as hypertension, smoking and diabetes, for example.
In November last year, in Montreux, Switzerland, the group met to start work on the sixth edition of this guide, which began to be published in 1996. The only Brazilian representative in this group is Professor Carolina Sales Vieira Macedo, from the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto (FMRP) at USP.
Through the Center for Ongoing Identification of Research Evidence, WHO initiates the update process by consulting with the community involved in sexual and reproductive health on what topics need to be updated or included. The group, which brings together technical experts in reproductive health, members of the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), WHO and guests, based on these responses, acts in four stages:
Meeting to define the topics that will be reviewed;
Preparation of evidence by CDC;
Group meeting to evaluate the evidence and decide on the criteria for each topic;
Publication of the new criteria, scheduled for 2024.
According to Professor Carolina, the topics are chosen based on criteria of prevalence, relevance and requests from countries and WHO regional offices. The document, says Carolina, is used worldwide by residents and family physicians, gynecologists and obstetricians, general practitioners, nurses, midwives, medical students, as well as managers of family planning programs. “Being able to contribute to the preparation of a document that guides the prescription of contraceptives worldwide is a great honor”, celebrates the professor.
The work is still ongoing and the changes will be known in the release of the new edition of the Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, scheduled for 2024.
