| For immediate release -- |
2006-22 |
OTTAWA (May 19, 2006) - The evidence is strong - and it's also contradictory. What's a health professional to do? How are patients to make decisions? Now, there's guidance. The Cochrane Collaboration recently released key conclusions in four areas, finding that herbal treatments can help back pain, antibiotics are effective for treating a type of lung disease called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), acupuncture can alleviate nausea from cancer treatment and immunotherapy does not help couples experiencing recurrent miscarriage. As part of its effort to ensure all Canadians benefit from health research knowledge, CIHR is providing more than $7 million over 5 years for the Canadian activities of The Cochrane Collaboration.
On May 20th, 2006, as the world celebrates the 2nd annual International Clinical Trials Day, CIHR is proud to highlight its support for the Canadian activities of The Cochrane Collaboration, an organization that conducts systematic reviews of clinical trials. These reviews provide clear information to researchers, health professionals and average Canadians about what works, what doesn't, and where more health research is needed.
"I am often asked how people should decipher the contradictory health research evidence they hear. The answer is to look at broad international evidence through systematic reviews, and that is just what the Cochrane Collaboration does," said Dr. Mark Bisby, Vice-President Research CIHR. "The Cochrane Collaboration plays a crucial role in ensuring the knowledge gained through thousands of international clinical trials can be used by health professionals and patients to improve prevention and treatment, as well as by the health research community to guide future research."
Recently announced findings of the Cochrane Collaboration illustrate the important role systematic reviews play in providing clear answers to complex questions. By systematically reviewing the results of international clinical trials, Cochrane reviewers have concluded:
These are just four of over 2,500 systematic reviews produced by The Cochrane Collaboration and published online in The Cochrane Library (www.thecochranelibrary.com/).
"Systematic reviews are the best way to ensure patients benefit from the knowledge generated through the thousands of clinical trials conducted internationally every year," said Jeremy Grimshaw, Director, Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre. "CIHR support for the Cochrane Collaboration is contributing to a Canadian health research culture that understands the value of systematic reviews, and will lead to a more evidence-based health system."
The more than $7 million in CIHR funding will support the Canadian Cochrane Centre, eight Cochrane groups working in specific areas of healthcare and research, and 18 local network sites supporting researchers in every Province and Territory across Canada. The Canadian Cochrane Centre collaborates with 21 affiliated Canadian healthcare organizations, including health professional groups, consumer groups and research agencies.
Funding for the Canadian activities of The Cochrane Collaboration is being provided in partnership with the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) as well as the CIHR Institutes of Health Services and Policy Research, Neurosciences Mental Health and Addiction, Gender and Health, Human Development Child and Youth Health, Nutrition Metabolism and Diabetes, and Infection and Immunity.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of Canada's agency for health research. CIHR's mission is to create new scientific knowledge and to catalyze its translation into improved health, more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian health care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and support to more than 10,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada. www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca
The Cochrane Collaboration is a unique, not-for-profit organization that aims to help people make well-informed decisions by preparing, maintaining and promoting the accessibility of systematic reviews of the effects of healthcare interventions. Abstracts of Cochrane systematic reviews are available free of charge at www.cochrane.org/. Access to the full text of Cochrane systematic reviews is available through The Cochrane Library at www.thecochranelibrary.com/. The Cochrane Library is free of charge in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan and Yukon, and to health professionals in Nova Scotia. Access is also available to most Canadian health professionals working in academic or healthcare centres, and otherwise by subscription. Members of the media may request full access to the contents of the Library.
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For additional information contact:
Marie-France Poirier, CIHR Media Relations, (613) 941-4563
