The inaugural Cochrane Convenes is hosted by Cochrane, co-sponsored by WHO, and co-organised with COVID-END (COVID-19 Evidence Network to support Decision-making).
Cochrane is a global independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers, and people interested in health. Cochrane’s 82,000 members and supporters from more than 130 countries work together to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest.
Cochrane believes that a world of improved health is possible when decisions about health and health care are routinely based on high-quality, relevant and up-to-date synthesized research evidence, which it publishes in the Cochrane Library. The Cochrane Library is an internationally recognized and unique source of reliable, independent information on the effects of interventions in health care. Its principal component is the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), containing over 8,500 Cochrane Reviews.
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is the world’s foremost public health agency. One of its key roles is bringing the best skills, science and evidence to inform practice through setting globally-applicable norms and standards. Norms and standards provide guidance on a broad range of thematic areas. These are based on the best available scientific evidence and advice from leading technical experts.
Member States look to WHO for guidance to address uncertainties in public health policy and practice. As such, norms and standards need to be high-quality, relevant, accessible, and able to keep pace with rapid change, even in times of unfolding health crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The WHO Department of Quality Assurance of Norms and Standards within the Science Division also coordinates the Evidence Collaborative on COVID-19 (ECC-19), a self-organizing network for information sharing and collaboration around evidence retrieval efforts to combat COVID-19.
COVID-END
COVID-END is a time-limited network that brings together more than 50 of the world’s leading evidence-synthesis, technology-assessment and guideline-development groups around the world. It covers the full spectrum of the pandemic response, from public-health measures and clinical management to health-system arrangements and economic and social responses. It also covers the full spectrum of contexts where the pandemic response is playing out, including low-, middle- and high-income countries.