Cochrane has embarked on an important change programme to transform the way we produce high-quality, independent and timely evidence. The new model is designed to ensure Cochrane remains viable, sustainable, and focused on the greatest global health and care challenges now and into the future.

We recently published a Cochrane Review that was a collaboration between authors from India, Canada and London. Lead author, Krishna Undela, created the following infographic to go with the review.The below text is the plain language summary from the review.

Future of Evidence Synthesis in CochraneIn August 2021, Cochrane Review Groups (CRGs) in the UK received confirmation from the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) informing them about the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) decision to cease all funding at the break-point in the current contract at the end of March 2023.  

In August 2021 we learned that our National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funding will cease in March 2023. We are grateful to have benefitted from many years of stable funding from NIHR for the Cochrane Airways editorial team, based at St George’s University of London, who support the production of Cochrane Airways Reviews. We are disappointed because the huge group of people who make up Cochrane Airways round the world will lose the group that is holding us all together while we produce the Cochrane Reviews that are so important for decision-makers.

Authors from the Netherlands and Canada have written a review on Non‐invasive ventilation (ventilators) used at night by people with COPD. The lead author, Tim Raveling, said “This review investigated if chronic non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is effective compared to standard care for patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), using an analysis of pooled individual patient data.

Do telehealth technologies help improve the health of people who have COPD?For the full review click here.

To celebrate World Asthma Day 2021 we launch a new review comparing combination fast-acting beta-agonist and steroid inhaler as required with either regular inhaled steroids or fast-acting beta-agonists as required alone in adults or children with mild asthma. Read more about it in this interview with one of the lead authors, Tim Hinks, based at the University of Oxford.

Orlagh O'Shea, who is an ESI fellow, published a new review with Chris Cates and Liz Stovold from the Cochrane Airways Editroial base team. Orlagh said that the take-home message from the review is "As long as salmeterol or formoterol are in a combined inhaler with an inhaled steroid we did not identify any safety issues which would affect the choice of any combination". Below we have reproduced the plain language summary. The full review can be read here.