This week Cochrane was given the opportunity to speak as part of the UK’s first ever Evidence Week at the Houses of Parliament in London, UK.
The initiative, led by Sense About Science, brought together MPs, peers, parliamentarians and others interested in science and health to talk about why health evidence is important and matters to global decision-makers. It aimed to highlight the role of the House of Commons Library and share insights into the work of Parliament in seeking and scrutinizing the value of evidence for making better healthcare decisions.
Cochrane joined Sense about Science, the House of Commons Library, the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and House of Commons Science and Technology Committee as well as partners SAGE Publishing in arranging a week of events and briefings.
As part of the week of briefings, Dr Lynda Ware, Senior Fellow in General Practice at Cochrane UK, presented to wide-ranging delegates on how Cochrane uses high-quality, relevant, synthesized research evidence to help make informed decisions about health care.
Dr Lynda Ware commented: “We are bombarded by health claims and it is difficult to make sense of them all. It is hard to filter out the fake and misleading from those that are true and evidence-based. As a global organization providing the very best analysis of research evidence available, Cochrane can help us find our way through this information to make informed decisions about health care.”
Attendees to Dr Ware’s talk came from government departments, independent fact checking organizations, press officers working in science communications as well as researchers looking at how evidence can help tackle some of the big social problems of our time - homelessness and an aging population.
