Background. A 2017 situational analysis assessing Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) development in the Philippines revealed CPGs of inconsistent quality. In response, the Department of Health (DOH)-Philippine Health Insurance Corporation Manual for CPG Development was developed to outline the standardized steps of the CPG development process. To implement this, technically qualified institutions and individuals should be commissioned.

Objective. To identify qualified institutions and individuals and map out their technical skills and potential for capacit building in CPG development

Methods. Mixed methods were used in this cross-sectional study. A snowballing method identified specific institutions and individuals. Self-administered surveys and key informant interviews were conducted to determine competence, strengths, and gaps in the development of CPGs.

Results. A total of 74 individuals from 45 institutions with competencies in CPG development were identified. Of the 45 institutions, 72% were non-clinical, with roughly half working on formal research. Of the 74 individuals, 96% possessed relevant knowledge and skills and 85% already provided training on CPG development topics. Around half of the respondents have been part of a CPG development task force. Only about half were able to incorporate social concepts of equity, and only one-third had experience in managing conflicts of interest.

Conclusion. Qualified institutions and individuals identified in this capacity mapping can be tapped in future CPG development in the country. Incorporation of social concepts and management of conflicts of interest still need to be ensured.

Practice Guideline ; Capacity Building

To date, sperm morphometric studies have assessed whole sperm populations without considering sperm function. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship of sperm membrane and acrosomal integrity with sperm morphometry in liquid semen samples collected from bulls. To this end, sperm morphometry was performed on cryopreserved semen samples from 16 bulls by a combination of fluorescent dyes, including Hoechst 33343, carboxyfluorescein diacetate, and propidium iodide. This allowed discrimination of different subpopulations on the basis of sperm membrane and acrosomal integrity and analysis of the morphometrics of the sperm head, nucleus, and acrosome using a specific plug-in module created on ImageJ. Acrosomal integrity was related to sperm morphometry as the heads of spermatozoa with a damaged acrosome were significantly smaller than those with a normal acrosome (P < 0.001). In the case of spermatozoa with an intact acrosome, those with a damaged plasma membrane had a larger sperm head and acrosome than spermatozoa with an intact plasma membrane (P < 0.001). No significant differences in the sperm head size were observed between sperm subpopulations without an acrosome or in the nuclear sperm morphometry of the different subpopulations. There was a positive correlation between the sperm motility values of the samples and the morphometric parameters for intact spermatozoa. These correlations were particularly strong for the morphometric parameters of the sperm acrosome. We conclude that there are clear differences in the sperm morphometry depending on the status of the sperm membrane and acrosome and this should be considered when performing this kind of analysis.