The launching ceremony of the Portuguese Branch of the Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre was held on June 24 in the Grand Auditorium of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon.

The launching ceremony was chaired by Professor Vaz Carneiro, Director of the Portuguese Collaborating Centre of the Iberoamerican Cochrane Network and honoured with the presence of the following dignitaries: Professor Costa Pereira (Head of the Porto Unit of the Portuguese Branch of the Iberoamerican Cochrane), Professor Pinto de Sousa (President of the Angolan Medical Association), Florentino Cardoso, MD (President of the Brazilian Medical Association), Professor Costa (Coordinator-Editor of the Movement Disorders Review Group), Professor Fernandes e Fernandes (Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon), Mr. Mark Wilson (Cochrane Collaboration CEO) and Dr. Xavier Bonfill (Director of the Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre).

The first half of the session focused on the presentation of the Portuguese Collaborating Centre of the Iberoamerican Cochrane Network and the second half consisted of several papers on the topic “Cochrane Collaboration in Portugal and Worldwide”.

Professor Vaz Carneiro presented the Portuguese Collaborating Centre of the Iberoamerican Cochrane Network and focused on the goals of the Portuguese Branch while stressing that the various professional associations, the Portuguese Medical Schools, and the patients’ associations should be fully engaged in this project.

Professor Vaz Carneiro further mentioned that establishing the Portuguese Branch of such a prestigious worldwide organisation was crucial to the development of clinical research in Portugal, leading to the production of high-quality information for clinical and management decision-makers, and health policy-makers while also enabling patients to make informed decisions.

Professor Costa then spoke about the Movement Disorders Review Group, highlighting the role of the Cochrane Library and the systematic reviews, produced by Cochrane, over 8,000 in all.

Professor Altamiro Costa Pereira, head of the Porto Unit of the Portuguese Branch of the Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre, presented the Unit, underpinning its strategic goals and the need for closer collaboration among Portuguese-speaking countries.

Dr Bonfill went on to present the Iberoamerican Cochrane Network, focusing on the several difficulties health decision-makers face when attempting to implement clinical research findings; Mr Mark Wilson addressed the theme “The Cochrane Collaboration and health systems in the 21st century”, mapping the twenty-year-old (1993-2013) Cochrane Collaboration progress and describing past and current challenges as well as future prospects, namely the strategic plans for 2020.

Upon conclusion of the presentations, the floor was opened for discussion during which several questions and doubts from the audience were addressed.

Professor Vaz Carneiro and Professor Costa brought the session to a close, at the end of which a Collaboration Agreement applicable to the areas of training, health system information, and guidance in health care provision and research was signed between the Angolan Medical Association and the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Research (CEMBE).

To consult the Launching programme and find out more about the Cocharne Collaboration, please click here.

In the next issue of News@fmul, further information on the Portuguese Branch of the Iberoamerican Cochrane Center will be provided.

Editorial Team
news@fm.ul.pt