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Free access to Cochrane Library health information for all Canadians


April 15, 2009

The Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre, led by OHRI scientist Dr. Jeremy Grimshaw, announced today that everyone in Canada with access to the Internet will be able to view the full content of The Cochrane Library, an online resource that provides evaluations on health treatments.

The Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre, in partnership with the Canadian Health Libraries Association, has successfully secured a national license to The Cochrane Library. In essence, the license provides a subscription for every Canadian with access to the Internet to benefit from the immense volume of health information found in The Cochrane Library. Everybody will be one click away from the best available evidence on the effectiveness of treatment procedures including which ones may be harmful.

“There are so many opinions and competing interests on the Internet claiming they have the best answers about people’s health care. Having access to The Cochrane Library will allow individuals to learn what the research says about what they need for better health. This is truly ground-breaking,” explained Dr. Jeremy Grimshaw, director of the Canadian Cochrane Network Centre (CCNC), Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (the research arm of The Ottawa Hospital) and Professor at the University of Ottawa.

While this new access will help inform health consumers, healthcare providers will also benefit from this pilot project. Healthcare practitioners will save valuable time to research the best patient treatment options through easy access to this wealth of health information.

“Health librarians across the country have long recognized and promoted the importance of access to the Cochrane Library as a key resource for evidence-based practice and decision-making,” said Dianne Kharouba, president of the Canadian Health Libraries Association.

To access the best on-line resource on health treatments, please visit: www.thecochranelibrary.com.

About The Cochrane Library
The Cochrane Library contains high-quality health care information, including systematic reviews from The Cochrane Collaboration. These reviews bring together research on the effects of health care and are considered the gold standard for determining the relative effectiveness of different interventions. The Cochrane Collaboration (http://www.cochrane.org) is a UK registered international charity and the world's leading producer of systematic reviews. It has been demonstrated that Cochrane systematic reviews are of comparable or better quality and are updated more often than the reviews published in print journals.

For more information
Jeanette Doucet
Communications Specialist
Canadian Cochrane Network and Centre
University of Ottawa
Tel: 613-562-5800 ext. 2927
jdouce2@uottawa.ca