New Cochrane Convenes report recommends urgent action among those who fund, generate and use evidence to ensure the world is better prepared. Two years in, it is clear that COVID-19 has created an unprecedented focus on health evidence for people working in governments, businesses and non-governmental organizations as well as members of the public. Responsible governments and other bodies have “followed the science” or claimed to.

Hundreds of health leaders and experts met on October 14 to recommend the international community urgently mount stronger evidence-based responses to global health emergencies, and recordings 

Cochrane Convenes will bring together key thought leaders from around the world to discuss the COVID-19 evidence response and develop recommendations to help prepare for and respond to future global health emergencies. Cochrane Convenes is co-sponsored by The World Health Organization. In this interview, we talk to Dr. John Grove, Director of Quality Assurance, Norms and Standards at The WHO about Cochrane Convenes.Why do you think it is important to hold Cochrane Convenes now?

Cochrane Convenes will bring togethe

Preparing for and responding to global health emergencies: what have we learnt from COVID-19?

A recent Editorial in Nature, ‘Evidence-based medicine: how COVID can drive positive change’ mentions the upcoming Cochrane Convenes event. It explains how the pandemic has spawned too many uninformative clinical trials and reviews and that reform is needed to ensure the world gets the high-quality evidence it needs.