Cochrane wurde 1993 in Oxford (Vereinigtes Königreich) gegründet, „um die Erstellung systematischer Reviews über randomisierte kontrollierte Studien in der Gesundheitsversorgung zu ermöglichen.“
Das Cochrane Centre (wie wir damals hießen) gab einem internationalen Gemeinschaftsprojekt eine Form, das schon zuvor in den 1980er-Jahren bahnbrechende Arbeit geleistet hatte, um systematische Reviews über kontrollierte Studien zur Versorgung während Schwangerschaft, Geburt und im erstem Lebensmonat zu erstellen.
Namensgeber war der schottische Mediziner und Forscher Archie Cochrane, dessen Erfahrungen als Arzt mit knappen Mitteln während des Zweiten Weltkriegs seine Ansichten zur Gesundheitsversorgung wesentlich beeinflussten. Er leistete Pionierarbeit bei der gerechten Verwendung von Ressourcen für Behandlungen, deren Wirksamkeit zuverlässig nachgewiesen wurde. Über Archie Cochrane weiterlesen.
Unsere zehn Gründungsprinzipien waren seinerzeit sehr fortschrittlich und sind auch heute noch Eckpfeiler unserer Arbeit: zusammenarbeiten, auf dem Enthusiasmus des Einzelnen aufbauen, Doppelspurigkeit vermeiden, Verzerrung (Bias) minimieren, auf dem Laufenden bleiben, nach Relevanz streben, Zugang fördern, Qualität und Kontinuität sicherstellen und eine breite Beteiligung ermöglichen.
Seitdem haben wir unsere systematischen Reviews und Unterstützung für Gesundheitsevidenz erheblich erweitert. Heute gibt es in den meisten Ländern Cochrane-Gruppen, und wir stellen Menschen und Institutionen in aller Welt zuverlässige Gesundheitsinformationen zu Hunderten von Themen zur Verfügung. Dabei legen wir den Schwerpunkt auf die Bereiche, in denen der Bedarf an zuverlässiger Evidenz am größten ist, um möglichst vielen Menschen einen Nutzen zu bringen. Im folgenden Video (auf Englisch) erfahren Sie mehr über die Entwicklung von Cochrane.
Seit der Gründung im Jahr 1993 hat sich Cochrane aufgrund der Fähigkeit, Fachleuten und Gesundheitssystemen auf der ganzen Welt streng geprüfte Informationen zur Verfügung zu stellen, zu einem globalen Goldstandard für evidenzbasierte Gesundheitsversorgung entwickelt. Deshalb hat dieses Projekt unsere volle Unterstützung verdient.
Alberto Merchante-González, Leiter des Sektors Öffentliche Gesundheit, Spanisches Gesundheitsministerium
Video (auf Englisch): Cochrane - 30 Jahre Evidenz (5 Min. 33 Sek.)
Video-Transkript (engl.)
Narrator: In 1993 an international group of health researchers, providers and consumers gathered in Oxford in the UK to organize a collaborative approach to improve healthcare research and practice.
Iain Chalmers, Former Director, UK Cochrane Centre: We left people in no doubt at all that if this was going to be done, it needed international collaboration. We had demonstrated with the model of the perinatal work that it was possible to do it. We needed to get in touch with all of our allies around the world and to say, "Are you up for this?"
Narrator: They were motivated by principles set forward by Archie Cochrane that highlighted using reliable evidence that has been systematically evaluated.
Iain Chalmers: He asked the question, “How can we have a rational health service if we don’t know which of the things being done within it are useful and which are useless or possibly even harmful?”
Narrator: Over the decades that followed, this international network of collaborators would improve and evolve methods of meta-analysis to systematically gather and review randomized control trials with the goal of synthesizing the best evidence for health outcomes.
Gill Gyte, Consumer Editor, Pregnancy and Childbirth Group: It was actually all about only using interventions when they were effective, and it proved that a lot of the routine interventions that had been around before actually just didn’t work or had adverse effects. And so they eventually were stopped. Routine shaves, routine enema, routine episiotomy, they’re all gone now.
Narrator: The Cochrane logo is an example of one systematic review that demonstrated a benefit of treatment, in this case corticosteroids saving the life of premature infants, including George Selby.
George Selby: I think of hope.
Rebecca Selby (George‘s mother): Aw, bless you.
Paul Selby (George‘s father): Why hope?
George Selby: Because it gives me hope for the future outcomes.
Narrator: Cochrane is now an independent international network with members and supporters from more than 190 countries.
Jimmy Volmink, Founding Director, South African Cochrane Centre: We made it a very clear goal that we would prioritize the conditions that are important to Africa. We have, together, been able to substantially increase the number of reviews that are relevant to Africa.
Narrator: Cochrane Review Groups have produced over 16,000 new and updated Cochrane reviews over a wide range of disciplines. These have led to health policy changes that have saved and improved lives around the world.
Cindy Farquhar, Co-Director, Cochrane New Zealand: When I go to international meetings on obstetrics and gynaecology, without a doubt people are quoting Cochrane reviews, probably in every presentation on evidence or what’s best practice or guidelines.
Narrator: Today, a majority of World Health Organization guidelines are informed by evidence from Cochrane reviews.
Dr Marie Paul Kieny, Former Assistant Director-General, Health Systems and Innovation, World Health Organization: The collaboration with Cochrane is very important for WHO, and this is why we value this partnership. Cochrane is one of the major institutions at the global level in particular, to synthesize, to analyse, and to disseminate evidence, so that this evidence can be used by WHO in the guideline process.
Luis Gabriel Cuervo, Senior Advisor, Research Promotion and Development, Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization: Cochrane has transformed the landscape of research use by establishing a bridge between policy makers and health decision makers. Whether as patients, policy makers, or health providers, it has transformed it because it established this bridge, this link between scientific knowledge and decisions.
Narrator: On Wikipedia, the most referenced health journal is the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Alessandro Liberati (1954-2012), Former Director, Italian Cochrane Centre: One of the major achievements has been to convince people that really accumulating evidence is essential. This was very much Archie Cochrane’s message.
Narrator: For 30 years, Cochrane has fostered a culture of evidence, collaboration and learning that has impacted the work of health researchers, providers and consumers worldwide.
