Evidence Aid is an international platform that was formed out of the need to deliver time sensitive access to systematic reviews for use in the event of disasters and other humanitarian emergencies.
Evidence Aid works in collaboration with other organizations including Public Health England; Red Cross Flanders, International Rescue Committee; Centers for Disease Control; Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine; and the University of Oxford.
With an increasing demand for "value for money", proof of impact and effectiveness in the provision of humanitarian aid it is essential to ensure that decisions and activities are evidence-based.
They keep this information up to date where it can serve as a provision to other agencies, planning groups and first responders in, disasters, humanitarian crises or major healthcare emergencies.
Mike Clarke, who founded the initiative and is now the chair of the board of trustees and Research Director, is a professor at Queen's University and also has a position at the Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin.
[citation needed] In addition to the core team, Evidence Aid is supported by volunteers who work in various aspects of public health, humanitarian relief, and systematic reviews, where they collaborate from multiple locations around the world.
[citation needed] Evidence Aid seeks to bring together systematic reviews of relevance to disasters, humanitarian crises, and major healthcare emergencies, in a single online resource[3] where they can be accessed free of charge and are available to anyone.
For example, "Landslides: A draft chapter from the upcoming book Koenig and Schultz's Disaster Medicine: Comprehensive Principles and Practice, 2nd Edition"[4] was made available as free access for Evidence Aid.
Separately, Evidence Aid has partnered with Cochrane to co-ordinate and administer four special collections covering: flooding and poor water sanitation; earthquakes; burns; and posttraumatic stress disorder.
Archived 23 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine[9] The scope of this research goes beyond the question of impact evaluation, key recommendations were made to move the provision of evidence forward in the sector, including: Evidence Aid works with partners, contributors, and volunteers from multiple nations to achieve its aim of providing people and organizations with the knowledge tools they need to make well-informed decisions and choices in their efforts to improve health, increase the quality of life and reduce human errors in disaster management following disasters, humanitarian crises, and major healthcare emergencies.
"[21] In low and middle-income countries, research has found that providing additional food to children aged three months to five years may result in modest gains in weight and height, and haemoglobin.
Malnutrition leads to higher infection risks, plus it impairs physical and mental development making the undernourished child more susceptible to chronic disease in adulthood.
During the passage they face the challenges of substandard shelter and sanitation, and dangerously long waits for food and water through treacherous weather and with disease ridden companions.
Many displaced persons fear forced repatriation or detention and they are unable to navigate the bureaucracy around the local or national health care culture.
This initiative is a collaboration between Cochrane, Wiley, Kevin Pottie, Leo Ho and Evidence Aid and incorporates the contributions of many volunteers and experts in health.
[23] Billions of dollars are spent annually on international humanitarian responses, yet aid budgets are not keeping pace with the increasing frequency and severity of disasters.