Cochrane is an international not-for-profit and independent organisation, dedicated to making up-to-date, accurate information about the effects of healthcare readily available worldwide. It produces and disseminates systematic reviews of healthcare interventions and promotes the search for evidence in the form of clinical trials and other studies of interventions. Cochrane was founded in 1993 and named after the British epidemiologist, Archie Cochrane. The major product of Cochrane is the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews which is published quarterly as part of The Cochrane Library. More information about Cochrane can be found on the Cochrane website.

Those who prepare the reviews are mostly healthcare professionals who volunteer to work in one of the many Cochrane Review Groups, with editorial teams overseeing the preparation and maintenance of the reviews, as well as application of the rigorous quality standards for which Cochrane Reviews have become known. Cochrane Public Health is a Cochrane Review Group and is a memeber of the Cochrane Public Health and Health Systems Network. For more information on the structure of Cochrane, see our global community. 

Further reading:

• Visit the Cochane website to see how you can get involved
• Read plain language summaries of Cochrane reviews
• View and hear a podcasts
• Find out about Cochrane activities in your part of the world through Cochrane Geographic Groups