News

Evidence Aid

23 December 2010

The UK Cochrane Centre and several Cochrane Review Groups in the UK, which are part of the National Institute for Health Research, and their partners have created Evidence Aid, a website resource to provide information on systematic reviews relevant to planning for, and responding to, natural disasters and other large-scale emergencies.

Evidence Aid arose from The Cochrane Collaboration's response to the Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December 2004, when priority questions about healthcare interventions were identified by people in the affected region. Many of the highlighted reviews come from the work of NIHR-funded Cochrane Review Groups including the Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Group in Bristol; the Injuries Group in London; and the Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma Group in Manchester. The new phase of Evidence Aid, venturing beyond health, was launched at the recent joint Colloquium of the Campbell and Cochrane Collaborations. It will engage with evidence providers and knowledge sources relevant to decisions about shelter, communication, construction, education, security and support for displaced people.

Professor Mike Clarke, Director of the UK Cochrane Centre and one of the founders of Evidence Aid said: 'Just as people need evidence from systematic reviews to make better decisions in health care, those planning for and responding to natural disasters need access to reliable knowledge to help them choose effective strategies and avoid those that are ineffective. Evidence Aid aims to save lives, reduce morbidity and enable communities to recover quicker and more efficiently.'

Professor Prathap Tharyan, from the South Asian Cochrane Centre, spoke at the Colloquium about the need for Evidence Aid, and you can watch his presentation on the Cochrane website. You can watch a video about Evidence Aid on YouTube. To find out more about Evidence Aid, or to help with its work, email: EvidenceAid@cochrane.org.

To view Professor Prathap Tharyan's presentation please click here