Excitement builds on eve of Global Evidence Summit
Thursday, 07 Sep 2017
With over 1000 confirmed attendees representing at least 68 countries; 13 plenary speakers; 202 long and short orals, 754 posters, 84 workshops and 40 special sessions; 98 stipends awarded; and, an exciting, wide-ranging programme – the Global Evidence Summit to be held in Cape Town from 13 to 16 September is on target to be an invigorating experience.
“We are working extremely hard with our partners and local and international colleagues to ensure an enriching and exciting summit for all the participants,” said Tamara Kredo, Chair of the Local Organising Committee (pictured above). “We are very privileged to have 13 exciting plenary speakers lined up including former Finance Minister of South Africa – Trevor Manuel, who will address the opening plenary.”
The event aims to advance the use of reliable research evidence in addressing some of the world’s most serious health and social challenges. It is the first time that Cochrane, The Campbell Collaboration, Guidelines International Network, International Society for Evidence-based Health Care, and Joanna Briggs Institute have joined forces to create this event with the theme of ‘Using evidence. Improving lives’.
“This partnership means that we have been able to bring together some of the best minds in this field,” said Kredo. “We believe we have an event lined up that will challenge and stimulate policy makers and practitioners to base their decisions on the best-available evidence.”
“The Summit will highlight and promote evidence-based approaches to policy and practice in order to target resources to the most effective health and social interventions,” said Jimmy Volmink, Founding Director of Cochrane SA and chair of the Global Organising Committee. “With the Summit taking place in South Africa the opportunities and challenges facing low and middle-income countries will be the key focus.”
“In situations of scarcity, it is important that resources are not wasted on useless or harmful interventions,” he continued. “It is therefore fitting that this gathering of world leaders in evidence-based practice, policy, methodology, and advocacy, from five international organisations, is taking place in Africa. We are confident it will make a meaningful contribution to furthering our shared vision of a healthier, more equitable world.”
Plenaries
Each of the five plenaries is linked to a threaded special session. Plenaries include:
Plenary 1: Evidence for Africa which is linked to three threaded special sessions: Evidence for social and economic policy; Evidence to action: start with the action; and, Engaging stakeholders in evidence-based decision making.
Plenary 2: Breaking down the silos: Digital and trustworthy evidence ecosystem which is linked to threaded sessions: From evidence production to synthesis; From evidence synthesis to dissemination at point of care; and, Implementation, improved care, and back again.
Plenary 3: Evidence for emerging crises which is linked to threaded sessions: Evidence Aid on humanitarian crises, Refugee crisis in health and society; and, Global warming.
Plenary 4: Evidence in a post-truth world which is linked to threaded sessions: Separating fact from fiction – enhancing critical thinking to equip the next generation for the post-truth society; Telling good stories: A workshop in the art of persuasion; Post-truth world in health: Engaging stakeholders to use evidence to inform decisions.
Plenary 5: Evidence for equity: How evidence can achieve a more equitable world, for everyone.
In addition to Trevor Manuel, the plenary speakers include Sipho Mthathi, the founding Executive Director of Oxfam South Africa; Trish Greenhalgh, Professor of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford; Anim van Wyk, Deputy Editor of Africa Check; Jonathan Sharples, Senior Researcher at the Education Endowment Foundation at University College London; Jodi Nelson, Senior Vice President of Policy and Practice at International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Stephen Kennedy, a practitioner and researcher from Liberia with extensive experience in the recent Ebola crisis.
The Summit is intended as an intersectoral, multidisciplinary event exchanging ideas about how to best generate, summarise and communicate evidence to inform policy and practice. Input from a multitude of perspectives including education, social and criminal justice, environmental and gender health, health systems and clinical care and practice is anticipated. Delegates represent different sectors including researchers and scientists; policy makers and managers; and consumers and activists from the health, development and social justice fields.
Sponsors include the South African Medical Research Council, the National Research Foundation (South Africa); Wiley, Wellcome, Wolters Kluwer; TDR, the Government of the Netherlands, Elsevier and EBSCO Health.
W: https://www.globalevidencesummit.org/
E: contact@globalevidencesummit.org
T: @GESummit
F: facebook.com/globalevidencesummit
#: #GESummit17
Michelle Galloway, Cochrane SA and Holly Millward, Cochrane