As the second major earthquake struck Nepal less than three weeks after more than 8,000 people died in a devastating quake, UK-based Evidence Aid has joined the world's renewed response. It is helping health workers decide what to do, and what to avoid.
Evidence Aid is an international initiative set up to provide the best evidence on the effects of interventions before, during and after disasters. Today, Evidence Aid is providing much needed knowledge support to health workers in Nepal. It is working with key partners in the region, UK agencies such as Public Health England, and international organisations such as the United Nations and World Health Organisation, to provide evidence-based resources to help focus relief efforts.
Evidence Aid provides free access to reliable, independent summaries of the effects of different interventions, actions and strategies. Many of these come from Cochrane, the foremost source of robust research evidence for healthcare around the world. Evidence Aid was founded by Cochrane's former global chair, Professor Mike Clarke, the day after the Indian Ocean tsunami on Boxing Day 2004.
The Evidence Aid website covers injuries, mental health and water-borne diseases; as well other health topics relevant to the recovery of the tens of thousands of people affected by the earthquakes. The information in the website is accessible on a computer or a smartphone.
Since the first earthquake, Evidence Aid has been in contact with members of Cochrane based in Nepal and, through them, frontline health workers in the country. It has also been getting the evidence to the response teams who have travelled to the region.
