The new Chilean Satellite of the Cochrane Effective Practice of Care (EPOC) Review Group works with the Ministry of Health to help inform decisions.
In April 2020, the Chilean Satellite of Cochrane EPOC contacted the Department of Health Technology Assessment and Evidence Based Health in the Chilean Ministry of Health (HTA). They knew that the Ministry was likely to need evidence-based responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Review Group staff suggested that they could help to summarise the existing evidence so it could support the Ministry of Health at a time when rapid decision making was needed.
As of December 2020, the Chilean Satellite of Cochrane EPOC had produced 4 SUPPORT summaries supporting the Chilean Ministry of Health’s questions on COVID-19, with another 10 in progress.
They have presented the summaries directly to over 30 policy makers at the Ministry, including the regional Heads of Department. Feedback from the Ministry was that they were grateful for this work and that it was presented in a way that could be used in decision making.
To learn more about this work about how Cochrane has worked with policy makers, read this short case story.