Table 2. Results on three exemplars applied to six evidence frameworks.

Exemplar	Outcomes	Tang et al. [12]	GRADE [13]	HASTE [14]	USCPSTF [15]	NHMRC [16]	NHS Health Development Agency [17]
Household water chlorination	Diarrhea	Grade 2b level 1 possible	⊕⊕⊕ Moderate quality of evidence	Grade 2b - Possible	Strong	“C” - Satisfactory	“B”
Preventing mother-to-child transmission, all regimens included	HIV infection in child within year of birth	Grade 2b level 1 possiblea	⊕⊕⊕⊕ High quality of evidence	Grade 1- Strong	Strong	“A” - Excellent	“A”
Lay health workers in primary or community health care to reduce morbidity in children under age 5, compared to usual care	Morbidity in children under 5	Grade 2b level 2 possibleb	⊕⊕ Low quality of evidence	Grade 3 - Insufficient	Strong	“B” - Good	“C”

^aTang et al. grade for PMTCT is due to strict rule that only interventions with relative risk (RR)>2 qualify as “strong” evidence. If this rule is flexible we would rate PMTCT as “Grade 1 Level 1 Strong” by Tang et al. categorizations.

^bGrade 2c level 2 if repeatability outside Southeast Asia is not considered acceptable.