Since the 1990s, BHIVA has been producing guidelines for the management of HIV, which, while primarily intended for the use of UK physicians, have international influence.

Guidelines are drafted by our Writing Groups and then placed on the BHIVA website for consultation by all interested parties. Finalised guidelines are published, in the main, in HIV Medicine and are also available on the BHIVA website. The processes used by BHIVA to produce its UK national guidelines have been accredited by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Accreditation (obtained in July 2012) is now valid until December 2023 and is retrospectively applicable to guidance produced using the processes described in the BHIVA guideline development manual (last updated in 2021). All guidance produced following the accredited process is eligible to bear the Accreditation Mark.

BHIVA guidelines are person-centred with language/terminology used in accordance with the recommendations in the 2019 National HIV Nurses Association (NHIVNA) Best Practice article: https://www.nhivna.org/file/5dcbdcb83254e/BP-19-2.pdf. BHIVA endorses the People First Charter which was launched in July 2021 to promote person-first language in HIV and Sexual Health https://peoplefirstcharter.org/.

British HIV Association (BHIVA) Guideline Development Manual

For more information, please click here.

GRADE training

All writing group members are required to complete GRADE training. To help with this, the following resources can be useful.

1. View the BHIVA Grade training presentation (below) given by Dr Ian Williams. Please also download the slideset.

2. BMJ series 2008: The BMJ published a series of five articles introducing the GRADE system and explaining how it works. It was aimed at clinicians and guideline writers, The articles can be accessed through the GRADE working group website

3. McMaster GRADE online modules: these have been recommended by the GRADE working group and take about 20 minutes each to complete. Click here to access the modules.

4. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 2011: published a 20 part series that is available through the GRADE working group website

Declarations of Interests from authors on BHIVA Guidelines Writing Groups

BHIVA has a clear policy of declarations of interests within the Association:

• BHIVA requires that all members of guidelines writing groups, as well as any expert external peer reviewers, must declare all interests and membership of other committees retrospectively on an annual basis, to give protection to individuals working as members of writing groups.

• All members of guidelines writing groups must undertake a declaration of interests prior to serving on a writing group and this declaration is confirmed and repeated at the publication of each set of completed guidelines published.

• The details given in declaration forms are retained on a register at the Secretariat and can be made available for publication, if required.