Table 1 Acceptability of the information and development process for each country

Criteria	Key questions	Tanzania		Ethiopia
Criteria	Key questions	Guideline-based	Interview-based	Guideline-based	Interview-based
Acceptability of the information needed for guideline appraisal
Transparency	1) Are the inclusion and exclusion criteria transparent, and is their rationale stated explicitly?	3	3	3	3
Justification	2) Are the inclusion or exclusion criteria discussed and justified with reference to:
	medical criteria?	4	4	4	4
	costs and opportunity costs?	1	1	1	1
	non-medical criteria such as age, income, social status and gender?	1	1	2	2
Universal validity and relevance	3) Are the reasons for exclusion and inclusion stated in a form that can be recognised as valid and relevant?	2	2	2	2
Accessibility	4) Is information in 1) accessible to all key stakeholders in written and understandable form?	2	2	2	2
Acceptability of the development procedure
Information	5) Does the Methods section of the guideline include information on development?	2	4	2	4
Indirect representation	6) Did the guideline development group include representatives of all key disciplines?	1	4	1	3
Representation of competing interests	7) Was input from patient representatives obtained or were other efforts made to include perspectives of patients and public?	1	3	1	2
Representation of competing interests	8) Has the guideline been subject to consultation among key stakeholders?	2	4	2	4
Transparency	9) Are the recommendations influenced directly by resource scarcity or political decisions, and are these influences recognised and discussed?	2	3	2	3

1, not considered acceptable at all; 2, lacking several elements essential to be considered fully acceptable; 3, lacking some elements essential to be considered fully acceptable; 4, fully acceptable. Criteria for acceptability based on theoretical ethical framework.20