Global evidence leaders unite for world health and beyond

An international coalition of global health organisations, led by the University of Adelaide’s JBI, has launched a new campaign calling for greater inter-sectoral action in the face of simultaneous crises.

World Evidence-Based Healthcare Day, held annually on 20 October, brings JBI together with Cochrane, The Campbell Collaboration, AHRU at University of Oxford, and the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) to advocate for better a collective approach to addressing issues across the world.

This year’s theme, Health and Beyond: From Evidence to Action, seeks to address the current polycrisis, or simultaneous and interconnected crises, which threaten the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the well-being of people worldwide.

In the face of escalating social, economic, and ecological challenges, the 2024 campaign underscores the need for greater intersectoral action and collaboration to build resilient evidence support systems, World EBHC Day Steering Committee Chair Bianca Pilla said.

“We must recognise that a polycrisis brings opportunities for taking action across the evidence ecosystem, building momentum to move from a confluence of crises to a confluence of change,” she said.

“The challenges are ours, but so are the solutions.”

This year’s campaign calls on organisations and individuals to share their experiences, innovations, and lessons learned in using evidence-based approaches to drive meaningful change.

By facilitating dialogue and knowledge-sharing across sectors, World EBHC Day 2024 serves as a global platform to share and access collective knowledge and wisdom for health and beyond, moving from evidence to action, while highlighting that interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation is pivotal to transformative change.

“World Evidence-Based Healthcare Day 2024 underscores the urgent need for collective wisdom and collective action to co-create solutions to face the complex challenges of our time,” said Mrs Pilla.

“Through cross-disciplinary thinking and innovation, multisectoral collaboration and collaborative funding models, we have the opportunity to build a healthier, more resilient world for future generations.”

World Evidence-Based Healthcare Day is held on 20 October each year. This global initiative was founded by JBI and seeks to raise awareness of the need for better evidence to inform healthcare policy, practice and decision making in order to improve patient outcomes globally.

For more information, visit worldebhcday.org/