Being awarded full, independent Centre status acknowledges Cochrane Sweden’s outstanding achievements in promoting evidence-based decision-making in health care by producing and disseminating the best available information on health care for clinicians and patients in Sweden and beyond.
Cochrane is a global independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers and people interested in health. Cochrane works with collaborators from more than 130 countries to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest, and our evidence is recognized as representing an international gold standard for high-quality, trusted information.
Cochrane Sweden, part of Cochrane since 2017, continues to promote evidence-based decision making in health care in Sweden by supporting and training new authors of Cochrane Reviews, as well as, working with clinicians, researchers, professional associations, policy-makers, patients, and the media to encourage the dissemination and use of Cochrane evidence. Cochrane Sweden consists of longstanding, dedicated Cochrane enthusiasts and is located at the Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
Being awarded full, independent Centre status acknowledges Cochrane Sweden’s dedication to producing and disseminating the best available information on health care for clinicians and patients in Sweden and beyond. Through their guidance Cochrane Interactive Learning has become a part of the curriculum at the Medical Faculty at Lund University and, more recently, at other Swedish faculties as well. With the help of Dina Muscat Meng, Communications Consultant at Cochrane Sweden, the Cochrane International Mobility Programme was launched. Minna Johansson, Director of Cochrane Sustainable Health Care (which is based in Lund) and Karsten Juhl Jørgensen (Cochrane Nordic), toured Sweden giving talks at conferences and hosting workshops and seminars about Cochrane, which has resulted in a visible increase in the publication of Cochrane reviews by Swedish authors.
Cochrane Sweden’s Director Matteo Bruschettini says: “We are grateful to Professor Ingemar Petersson, Head of Research at the University Hospital in Lund, for the wise and generous support since the very beginning. We’re also thankful to Professor Jan Kilhamn, Region Västra Götaland, for the support since 2020.
We aim to further expand the successful and strategic collaboration with the Cochrane Centres in Norway and Denmark and to facilitate networking and collaboration among the Scandinavian Cochrane Groups. Together with Martin Ringsten and all staff at Cochrane Sweden, we intend to collaborate in increasing the impact and use of Cochrane Reviews and to continue supporting Cochrane to reach its strategic objectives.”
Cochrane’s CEO Mark Wilson commented: “I am very pleased with the development of Cochrane Sweden into a full Cochrane Centre. Cochrane Sweden, despite being one of the newer Cochrane Groups, has already contributed substantially to Cochrane’s work in Sweden and beyond. Given the passion and generosity Matteo and team bring to everything they do, I am sure that he and the team will expand the reach and impact of Cochrane evidence in health decision making in Sweden in the coming years.”
Karsten Juhl Jørgensen, Acting Director of Cochrane Nordic, adds: “It has been a great pleasure to see the enthusiasm and growth of Cochrane Sweden over the past few years. We, at Cochrane Nordic, are extremely proud to have contributed our small bit to this development and we look forward to many years of continued collaboration, expanding our scope and support of Cochrane activities across Scandinavia, also including Cochrane Norway. Gaining full, independent Centre status for Cochrane Sweden is a considerable achievement and very well deserved.”
To mark the Centre status achievement, Cochrane Sweden will be holding an open online virtual seminar, ‘Cochrane – not just randomized trails of treatment effects’ on 1 September. In this webinar, they will go over current activities and future initiatives of Cochrane in the Scandinavian countries. Each topic will be presented by experts in the respective field and followed by Q&A and a short discussion.