Developing the Lebanese health economic evaluation guideline

OBJECTIVE: To report on the process of developing the Lebanese Economic Evaluation Guidelines (LEEG), and to provide relevant material that could assist guideline developers in the future. METHODS: The development of the LEEG closely followed the process proposed by the World Health Organization, i.e. to set up a Guideline Development Group (composed of three Lebanese experts), to establish the rationale for developing the guideline in Lebanon, to identify its scope, to search and retrieve evidence through two systematic reviews, to assess and present the evidence, to translate the evidence into guidelines and recommendations through a deliberative process, and to consult international experts. The deliberative process included a survey, an in-person interview, and a consensus workshop with sixteen Lebanese key stakeholders. Data was collected and quantitative analysis was conducted using SPSS software. International experts from The Netherlands were consulted for issuing the LEEG. Supported by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), the LEEG will be available for public consultation on the MoPH's webpage, and a final version will be made available thereafter. CONCLUSION: Clear and transparent reporting of the guideline development process should support international organizations as well as other developers in establishing their guidelines within their national context.