October 20 marks World Evidence-Based Healthcare Day!World Evidence-Based Healthcare Day is a global initiative supported by leading international evidence-based healthcare organizations, including Cochrane, JBI, and GIN. This initiative aims to raise awareness of the importance of high-quality evidence in informing healthcare policies, clinical practice, and decision-making, ultimately improving health outcomes worldwide.

Doctors’ prescribing habits are heavily influenced by payments, gifts, and free meals from pharmaceutical companies,

Key messagesFindings from studies that included women without a previous caesarean section and studies that included a mix of women with or without a previous caesarean section (where most had no previous caesarean section):

A tool for assessing the trustworthiness of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) has been published today in The BMJ, giving researchers a structured way to identify problematic studies before they're included in systematic reviews.What is INSPECT-SR?The INSPECT-SR tool (INveStigating ProblEmatic Clinical Trials in Systematic Reviews) was created by an international group of researchers to address the risks posed by untrustworthy RCTs.

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Join Cochrane Engage, a global platform connecting volunteers with health evidence projects that matter. Whether you're a patient, carer, or member of the public, your voice is essential in shaping trustworthy health information. Discover opportunities where YOU can contribute, including: 🫁 helping us with a research article focused on nebulized hypertonic saline for people with cystic fibrosis🪲 reviewing an article on the best length of treatment for chagas disease, a tropical disease 

Key messagesDue to a lack of robust evidence, the benefits and harms of cannabis-based medicines are unclear.Larger, well-designed studies including people with serious internal diseases (e.g. heart, kidney) and mental disorders are needed to give better estimates of the benefits and harms of cannabis-based medicines.Introduction to the review topicWhat is neuropathic pain?

Only a few months to go until the 2026 Cochrane Colloquium in Krakow, and we already have some fantastic news...We are really excited to announce that our 2027 Cochrane Colloquium will be held in the beautiful city of Kyoto, Japan!  The event will also mark Cochrane Japan's 10-year anniversary, making it a wonderful opportunity to celebrate a decade of achievement, growth and innovation together.Save the date: 2-4 November 2027 

Key messagesWe found four breast cancer risk prediction models that had been tested enough times to evaluate in detail. These were the Gail, Tyrer-Cuzick, BOADICEA, and BRCAPRO models.The BOADICEA model was one of the more reliable tools for estimating future breast cancer risk in women with a family history of the disease, meaning it may help them and their doctors to decide on treatment.

Knowledge translation (KT) is a key part of ensuring that high-quality evidence reaches the people who can use it. In Italy, however, research methods and evidence-based medicine (EBM) are not consistently integrated into higher education or medical education programmes. This educational gap may limit opportunities for healthcare professionals and students to develop practical skills in evidence synthesis and appraisal.

Key messagesVitamin D supplements compared with placebo (a sham treatment) may slightly reduce the number of young children who need a doctor or hospital visit for sudden infections in the lungs and airways (acute respiratory infections (ARIs)). They probably do not change how often each child visits a doctor or hospital. Higher doses of vitamin D compared with lower doses probably do not reduce how many children need a doctor or hospital visit for an ARI and do not reduce how often each child visits.

Key messagesIn people with mild memory and thinking problems (mild cognitive impairment (MCI)) or mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease, laboratory-produced medicines (anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies) that target and remove potentially damaging build-ups of amyloid proteins in the brain, probably result in little to no difference in the decline in memory functioning and thinking ability, or in how severe dementia symptoms are, compared with placebo (sham treatment) 18 months after the start of treatment.

About World EBHC DayWorld EBHC Day is delivered in partnership by JBI, Cochrane, The Campbell Collaboration, Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Centre for Evidence-based Health Care, and Instituto Veredas. World EBHC Day partners are GIN, HTiA, and The Africa Evidence Youth League.Held annually on 20 October, World EBHC Day raises awareness of the need for better evidence to inform healthcare policy, practice, and decision-making in order to improve health outcomes globally.

Key messagesThe evidence on whether daily aspirin can prevent bowel cancer is mixed and uncertain, but there is clear evidence of an increased risk of bleeding in the brain and around the skull.Aspirin probably does not make any difference to the number of new bowel cancer cases after 5 to 15 years of follow-up. After 15 years, aspirin may reduce the number of new bowel cancer cases, but we are not confident in this result.

Following a busy week at the 79th World Health Assembly (WHA), we’re reflecting on the inspiring conversations and high-level discussions Cochrane had the privilege of being involved in.  

Key messagesCompared with placebo (dummy treatment), antibiotics may reduce back pain slightly and may have some beneficial effect in improving disability in the short term in people with low back pain linked to damaged vertebral endplates (the layer between the disc and the vertebra) and disc rupture. It is unclear if antibiotics increase the risk of unwanted events and serious unwanted events compared with placebo.

Only 6% of people in the world speak English as a first language. 75% of the world’s population don’t speak English at all. Many people do not have access to high quality health information, because it is not readily available in a language that they understand.You could help translate Cochrane evidence into multiple languages, making it easier for people everywhere to make informed health decisions.Hundreds of volunteers have already translated thousands of plain language summaries of Cochrane reviews. could you join them?

Key messagesApplying the antiseptic chlorhexidine to the umbilical cord stump of a newborn likely reduces the risk of infection and may reduce the risk of death in low- and middle-income countries. Chlorhexidine likely also delays the time it takes for the cord stump to fall off by one to two days.Evidence on other antiseptics (like alcohol, silver sulfadiazine, and povidone) is limited and unclear in low- and middle-income countries.

In healthcare, the quality of evidence behind a decision can be the difference between effective care and wasted resources.Cochrane reviews are considered the most reliable health evidence available, but how do you apply global evidence to local healthcare realities?This webinar is designed to help you do exactly that.

Key messagesCompared to traditional dietary advice (like restricting calories or eating different types of foods), intermittent fasting may make little to no difference to weight loss and quality of life in adults living with overweight or obesity. We are less sure about the results for unwanted events.