Organisation of the working party

An email discussion list of all members of the working party is administered by the Australasian Cochrane Centre and a new grouping, called 'Tsunami Relief', has been created in The Cochrane Collaboration's Contact Database. All members of the working party have been assigned to this and it might make communication easier in the future. Much of the discussion within the working party will be by email, but there may be occasional teleconferences. A small group has been set up consisting of Frank Archer, Mike Clarke, Paul Garner, Sally Green, Pisake Lumbiganon and Prathap Thayan who will meet more regularly by telephone conference as required. Subgroups are also likely to form around specific issues, and it will be for these to decide how best to function.

Examples of working together

Following the telephone conference on 6 January 2005 contacts have been established between India and Sri Lanka (by Prathap Tharyan and Janarki Vidanapathirana), in relation to the delivery of mental health care. Other information has been shared and contacts made on mental health issues (eg between Frank Archer and Rachel Churchill).

Communication

A special section has been created on The Cochrane Collaboration's website (http://www.cochrane.org/docs/asiancrisis.htm) to provide information on the Collaboration's response.

Suggestions of reviews to prioritise

An email was sent to all Cochrane entities on 7 January 2005 asking for suggestions on topics and reviews that would be most relevant to people providing health care in the aftermath of the disaster. Many suggestions have already arrived at a dedicated email address (reviews@cochrane.org). These are being collated and the working party will help to prioritise them. The prioritised list will be used to target reviews and Evidence Summaries that need doing and, where necessary, might need dedicated funding. Discussions have begun with the Funders' Forum about possible sources of additional funding.

Contact with people in the affected region

On 11 January 2005, Jim Neilson and Kathie Clark sent an email to all 171 individuals in The Cochrane Collaboration's Contact Database who are based in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Kenya, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Seychelles, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Thailand, and have an email address in the database. This email expressed sympathy and support, and asked for suggestions on how The Cochrane Collaboration might help. The message was sent by regular mail to about 30 other people in these countries who do not have an email address in the Contact Database. We have already received a number of responses.

Contact with other agencies

WHO and Oxfam (one of the main UK charities working in the region) have provided suggestions on priority topics. Nandi Siegfried and others at the South African Cochrane Centre are contacting relevant agencies in Africa.

Access to Cochrane reviews

The Cochrane Collaboration and Wiley have agreed to make The Cochrane Library on Wiley InterScience (http://www.thecochranelibrary.org) freely available in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Kenya, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Seychelles, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Thailand for a six-month period. It is hoped that The Cochrane Library can help to assist planning by government and non-government agencies and institutions and individuals involved in health planning and care. This access is 'one click' and relies on IP recognition at the national level, rather than requiring a username and password. When the list of priority reviews is ready, there will be discussions about linking users directly to these reviews and/or bundling these and their summaries together to make it easier for people to access them.