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The Cochrane Collaboration is an independent nonprofit organization consisting of a group of more than 31,000 volunteers in more than 120 countries.[3] The collaboration was formed to organize medical research information in a systematic way to facilitate the choices that health professionals, patients, policy makers and others face in health interventions according to the principles of evidence-based medicine.[4][5] The group conducts systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials of health-care interventions, which it publishes in the Cochrane Library.[6][7] A few reviews (in fields such as occupational health) have also studied the results of non-randomized, observational studies. The collaboration formed an official relationship in January 2011 with the World Health Organization as a partner NGO, with a seat on the World Health Assembly to provide input into WHO resolutions.[8][9] History The Cochrane Collaboration was founded in 1993 under the leadership of Iain Chalmers. It was developed in response to Archie Cochrane's call for up-to-date, systematic reviews of all relevant randomized controlled trials of health care. Cochrane's suggestion that the methods used to prepare and maintain reviews of controlled trials in pregnancy and childbirth should be applied more widely was taken up by the Research and Development Programme, initiated to support the United Kingdom's National Health Service. Through the NHS R&D programme, led by the first Director of Research and Development Professor Michael Peckham,[10] funds were provided to establish a 'Cochrane Centre', to collaborate with others, in the UK and elsewhere, to facilitate systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials across all areas of health care.[11] In October 1995, The Collaboration formed the Cochrane Consumer Network[12] to incorporate patient perspectives into the review process. Shortly thereafter, new 'plain language summaries' provided users with a jargon-free synopsis of each systematic review.[13] The Cochrane Collaboration is currently concentrating on capacity building in health research is individuals, groups, and institutions in LMICs [14] Logo The logo of the Cochrane Collaboration illustrates a meta analysis of data from seven randomized controlled trials (RCTs), comparing one health care treatment with a placebo in a forest plot. The diagram shows the results of a systematic review and meta analysis on inexpensive course of corticosteroid given to women about to give birth too early – the evidence on effectiveness that would have been revealed had the available RCTs been reviewed systematically a decade earlier. This treatment reduces the odds of the babies of such women dying from the complications of immaturity by 30–50%. Because no systematic review of these trials had been published until 1989, most obstetricians had not realised that the treatment was so effective and therefore many premature babies have probably suffered or died unnecessarily.[15] Reception A 2004 editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal noted that Cochrane reviews appear to be more updated and of better quality than other reviews and due to their standardized methodologies, was "the best single resource for methodologic research and for developing the science of meta-epidemiology." Their work has also led to methodological improvements in the medical literature. However, the editorial also noted areas for improvement remained, including adequately assessing potential harms from medical interventions and providing a more user friendly format as well as promoting international collaboration.[16] South Asian Cochrane Network and Centre The South Asian Cochrane Network & Centre (SASIANCC)[17] is a part of the global network of Cochrane Collaboration, and is located at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, India. The centre, originally the South Asian Cochrane Centre, was established in January 2004, as a branch of the Australasian Cochrane Centre, with geographical responsibility for South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Maldives and Nepal). SASIANCC is hosted by the Prof Bhooshanam V Moses Centre for Evidence-Informed Healthcare at the Carman Block at the Christian Medical College (CMC) Campus, Bagayam, Vellore since December 2004 in memory of the late Prof Bhooshanam Vasanthakumar Moses at the suggestion of his MBBS colleagues, who also donated funds towards establishing the Centre with the aim of increasing the uptake of reliable and locally relevant evidence to inform health decisions, and to co-ordinate the activities of the South Asian Cochrane Network. In July 2008, it was re-designated as an independent centre of The Cochrane Collaboration, with a coordinating centre at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, in India and five network sites in India, two in Pakistan, one in Sri Lanka, and one in Bangladesh. The centre provides training and mentoring for researchers and clincians to develop protocols for, and complete, systematic reviews and meta-analysis of the effects of interventions relevant to healthcare. It also holds workshop on the process of using reliable evidence to make inform public health policy. Its projects have included the National Snakebite Survey in India,[18] the South Asian Toxicology Network, the Cochrane Student Journal Club [19] and the South Asian Database of Controlled Clinical Trials. It is funded by the Effective Health Care Research Programme Consortium, UK (via the British DFID and the International Health Group, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine) The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Indiam the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group (via the Department of Health, UK and the University of Nottingham), and the World Health Organization's Clinical Trials in Children group. Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections Group The Cochrane Acute Respiratory Infections group is registered since 1994. Its editorial base is currently located in the Bond University in Australia.The group deals with healthcare interventions aimed at prevention , treatment and rehabilitation aspects of acute respiratory infections including diphtheria,meningitis,measles and chickenpox. About 175 systematic reviews have been conducted under its purview. Cochrane Occupational Health and Safety Review Group The Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) Review Group [20] is one of the 53 review groups in the Cochrane Collaboration. The OSH group publishes reviews of the effectiveness of interventions to reduce occupational diseases, injuries and disability. Currently there are 126 review OSH-related topics in the Cochrane Library. The editorial base is located in Kuopio, Finland and funded by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. |
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