We are happy to share that we will attend the 2026 Cochrane Colloquium, that will take place from 8 to 10 December 2026 in Kraków, Poland.Under the theme Cochrane Evidence: Living, Trusted, Transformed, the colloquium will bring together researchers, policymakers, evidence producers, health professionals, community members, trainers and learners.The programme is centred around:

Cochrane has released an extensive programme of upcoming webinars, designed to enhance methodological skills in evidence synthesis and conducting Cochrane systematic reviews. In the coming months, a wide variety of new sessions, led by Cochrane experts around the world, will be offered, covering both methodological basics and more advanced topics. Highlights of the upcoming webinars include:

In 2025, our biggest achievement was the publication of the Cochrane systematic review on First aid training for laypeople. The question addressed by this review ("Is first aid education effective?") was one of the 5 high-priority topics identified by our stakeholders during our 2021 prioritization exercise.

The mission of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) is to promote, disseminate and advocate the international implementation of evidence-informed resuscitation and first aid recommendations, using transparent evaluation and consensus summary of scientific data.

Our Cochrane review on first aid training for laypeople shows how stakeholder involvement can strengthen both the relevance and impact of research. Stakeholders were engaged throughout the entire review process — from defining the research question to interpreting and sharing the results.

Each year on 20 October, we celebrate World Evidence-Based Healthcare (EBHC) Day. Once again, Cochrane First Aid is proud to be Evidence Ambassador. This year’s theme, Collaborative Knowledge Communication, highlights the importance of sharing, interpreting, and applying evidence together to improve health outcomes worldwide.For this year’s campaign, we are contributing in several ways:

World First Aid Day is celebrated annually on the second Saturday of September. This global event encourages everyone to get actively involved through concrete actions, contributing to the emergence of a proactive and supportive citizenry, serving as the first link in the Chain of Survival Behaviors.

A newly published Cochrane systematic review, co-authored by the Cochrane First Aid team, provides insights into the effectiveness of physical first aid training for laypeople (i.e. individuals without formal healthcare education).

From 20-22 May, we attended a face-to-face meeting in Paris, France, dedicated to our newly approved Cochrane Thematic Group on Acute and Emergency Care. 

Although the Cochrane First Aid Field focuses on the layperson as the provider of care, we are also part of the Cochrane Acute and Emergency Care Thematic Group.

We have said it before and we will say it again: our aim is to break down linguistic barriers as much as possible by making Cochrane evidence available in multiple languages. So far, we have been producing blogshots in 13 different languages. Now, thanks to our multilingual network, we have started translating our visual abstracts into Spanish and Italian. 

Each year on 25 April, World Malaria Day highlights the need for continued investment in and commitment to malaria prevention and control. After years of steady declines in malaria cases and deaths, progress has stalled.

Our biggest achievement of 2024 is the approval of our application for a new Thematic Group on Acute and Emergency Care. This partnership is designed to advance collaboration and research, improve the quality and accessability of evidence, and enhance patient outcomes in time-sensitive and critical areas of healthcare.

Cochrane has announced its scientific strategy for 2025-2030, focused on tackling the most pressing global health issues that drive inequity. This strategy prioritizes four research areas:

The team of Cochrane First Aid wishes you Happy Holidays and all the best for 2025!We will be taking a short break between 21 December and 5 January. See you in 2025!

The mission of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) is to promote, disseminate and advocate the international implementation of evidence-informed resuscitation and first aid recommendations, using transparent evaluation and consensus summary of scientific data. To do so, it relies on rigorous and continuous reviews of scientific literature performed by the members of 6 Task Forces.

During the Global Evidence Summit last month, we were delighted to host a workshop entitled "Toolbox for effective evidence dissemination: a hands-on workshop".

20 October marks World Evidence-Based Healthcare (EBHC) Day, a global initiative to raise awareness of the need for better evidence to inform healthcare policy, practice, and decision-making.

We are delighted to share that Cochrane First Aid is a part of a newly approved Cochrane Thematic Group on Acute and Emergency Care!

Since 2000, World First Day has been celebrated on the second Saturday of September. This global event aims to raise public awareness about the importance of first aid, both as an act of humanitarian empowerment and as a crucial component of a broader resilience strategy.