Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care

TLDR

The Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care, founded in 1976, pioneered primary care guidelines, publishing influential recommendations in 1979 and 1994, and has been a respected international authority until its 2005 disbandment left a national guideline void. Its mandate is to produce and share evidence‑based clinical practice guidelines for primary and preventive care. In 2010, the CTFPHC was reconstituted via a funding agreement between the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Its reports have informed agencies worldwide, notably shaping the US Preventive Services Task Force’s methodology.

Abstract

In 2010 the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (CTFPHC) was reconstituted through a funding agreement between the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Its mandate is to develop and disseminate clinical practice guidelines for primary and preventive care, based on systematic analysis of scientific evidence. The CTFPHC (formerly the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination) was originally established in 1976. The initial series of recommendations, the first of its kind, was published as a 61-page peer-reviewed paper in the CMAJ in 1979.1 Subsequently, in 1994, the CTFPHC published 81 of its recommendations in a compilation called The Canadian Guide to Clinical Preventive Health Care.2 The CTFPHC has had an international reputation for providing outstanding guidance for practitioners using rigorous, high-quality methods. Its reports have been used by many agencies around the world, including the US Preventive Services Task Force (which developed its approach based on CTFPHC methods). Originally, funding was provided by a partnership between the federal and the provincial and territorial governments, but when funding expired in 2005, the CTFPHC was disbanded. Since then, the primary care community has been without a national preventive care guideline group, although many local and provincial organizations have partly filled the void.