Individuals involved in assessing conflicts of interest:
Tarun Dua, Department of Mental Health and Substance Use, WHO headquarters Chiara Servili, Department of Mental Health and Substance AUse, WHO headquarters
David Ross, Department of maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, WHO Headquarters
To comply with WHO’s Conflict of Interest Policy, the Secretariat followed the revised Guidelines for declaration of interests (WHO experts). It requested all GDG members, external partners involved in the evidence review process and experts invited to review evidence profiles to submit a DoI form.
The Secretariat sent a letter to all GDG members, the External Review Group and external partners requesting them to complete the DoI form and submit their CVs. They were asked to consent to the publication of a summary of declarations in the guidelines. The GDG members were also required to complete a confidentiality undertaking. The WHO Secretariat reviewed the DoIs as well as additional information (obtained through internet and bibliographic database searches) and determined whether there were any conflicts of interest and if so, whether this required a management plan.
The names and brief biographies of members being considered for participation in the GDG were disclosed for public notice and comment prior to the GDG meeting. The aim was to enhance WHO’s management of conflicts of interest, as well as to boost public trust and transparency regarding its meetings and activities that involve providing technical and/or normative advice.
At the beginning of the meeting, the DoI of each GDG member was presented. GDG members and external partners were asked to update their DoIs with changes by notifying the relevant technical officer.
Follow-up and suggested actions, endorsed for the management of declared conflicts of interest, are summarized below:
• If a member declares an interest that is relevant to the meeting, the WHO Secretariat will note any potential conflicts of interest and summarize them. It will then decide whether and to what extent the member can participate in the development of the guidelines.
• If the conflict is deemed to be significant, the WHO Secretariat will decide if this necessitates the exclusion of the member from participating in the guidelines process or whether their participation should be limited.
• The decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.
Below is a summary of declared conflicts of interest and how they were managed.
A. GDG Members
GDG Members with no relevant interests declared on the DOI form and no relevant interests found in their CVs
Nick Allen, University of Oregon, USA
Steve Allsop, WHO Collaborating Centre for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, Australia
Gracy Andrew, Sangath, India
Dixon Chibanda, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Pim Cuijpers, Vrije Universiteit, the Netherlands Rabih El Chammay, Ministry of Public Health, Lebanon
Sarah Harrison, International Committee of the Red Cross, Denmark Andres Herrera, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Nicaragua, Nicaragua Mark Jordans, War Child, the Netherlands
Chisina Kapungu, International Centre for Research on Women, Washington DC, USA Eugene Kinyanda, Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute, Uganda Crick Lund, University of Cape Town, South Africa (chair)
Yutaka Motohashi, WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Suicide Prevention, National Institute of Mental Health, Japan
Olayinka Omygbodun, Ibadan University, Nigeria George Patton, University of Melbourne, Australia
Atif Rahman, Human Development Research Foundation, Pakistan Jacqueline Sharpe, Ministry of Health, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Katherine Sorsdahl, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Wietse A Tol, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA Anna Szczegielniak, Tarnowskie Gory, Poland
Lakshmi Vijayakumar, Safety, Health and Environment National Authority, India.
GDG members who have declared an interest on their DOI form or whose CVs have yielded a potentially relevant interest
Danuta Wasserman, WHO Collaborating Centre, Karolinska Institute, Sweden;
Professor Wasserman works at Karolinska Institute’s Swedish National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention. She declared that her research unit received a grant from the Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) programme in Stockholm. She also noted that YAM was a registered trademark in the European Union, Australia and the USA. The trademark belongs to Mental Health in Mind International AB, a research and development company co-owned by the researchers who developed the YAM programme (among them Danuta Wasserman and Vladimir Carli), and Karolinska Institute Holding AB.
Action: This interest was deemed insignificant or minimal and unlikely to affect, or be reasonably
perceived to affect, Danuta Wasserman’s judgement in the development of the guidelines. She is deemed to be participating in the guidelines’ development in an individual capacity and not representing any organization. No further action was necessary.
B. External Review Group
Members of the External Review Group, including youth representatives, with no relevant interests declared on the DOI form and no relevant interests found in their curriculum vitae
Tasnia Ahmed, Bangladesh
Lucie Cluver, Oxford University, England
Daniel Fung, International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions; Singapore.
Charity Giyava, Zimbabwe
Charlotte Hanlon, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia;
Brian Mafuso, Zimbabwe
Kanika Malik, Sangath, New Delhi, India David Milambe, Malawi
Mónica Ruiz-Casares, McGill University, Montreal, Canada Graham Thornicroft, King’s College London, England
Carmen Valle-Trabadelo, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Collaborative at Save the Children Shamsa Zafar, Health Services Academy, Pakistan
External Review Group members, including youth representatives, who have declared an interest on their DOI form or whose CVs indicate a potentially relevant interest
Delanjathan Devakumar, University College, London, England
Devakumar declared contributing and having contributed to research relevant to the mental health of adolescents. Research grants were obtained from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s National Institute for Health Research and the Medical Research Council, from University College London and Grand Challenges Canada.
Action: These interests were deemed insignificant or minimal and unlikely to affect, or be reasonably perceived to affect Dr Devakumar’s contribution as external reviewer to the guidelines. No further action was deemed necessary.
Lynette Mudekunye, Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative, South Africa
Ms Mudekunye disclosed that she was working for the Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative, a non-profit NGO that helps promote mental health among adolescents.
Action: These interests were deemed insignificant or minimal and unlikely to affect, or be reasonably perceived to affect, Ms Mudekunye’s contribution as external reviewer of the guidelines. No further action was necessary.
Vladmir Carli, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Vladimir Carli works for Karolinska Institute’s Swedish National Centre for Suicide Research and
Prevention. He declared that his research unit received a grant from the YAM programme in Stockholm.
He also noted that YAM was a registered trademark in the European Union, Australia and the USA. The trademark belongs to Mental Health in Mind International AB, a research and development company co-owned by the researchers who developed the YAM programme (among them Danuta Wasserman and Vladimir Carli), and Karolinska Institute Holding AB.
Action: This interest was deemed insignificant or minimal and unlikely to affect, or be reasonably perceived to affect, Mr Vladmir Carli’s contribution as an external reviewer of the guidelines. No further action was necessary.
William Yeung, ReachOut, Australia.
William Yeung reported being employed as administrator at Parks Clinic, a private occupational and psychology clinic. He declared receiving a remuneration (US$ 1,500) from the Partnerships for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health for supporting an Adolescents and Youth Constituency. He contributed, as volunteer, to mental health advocacy for the Black Dog Institute and Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre.
Action: This interest was deemed insignificant or minimal and unlikely to affect, or be reasonably perceived to affect, Mr Yeung’s contribution as an external reviewer of the guidelines. No further action was necessary.