Knowledge-sharing initiatives such as the Evidence Collaborative for COVID-19 established by the World Health Organisation, the International Network of Agencies for Health Technology Assessment, and the European Network for Health Technology Assessment are working to identify the rapidly emerging evidence on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19.
NICE is sharing its work on COVID-19 with these partners, and is helping select priority areas for research through the Cochrane collaboration’s rapid reviews on COVID-19. Our rapid COVID-19 guidelines have also been made available for access without our normal licencing fee.
Paul Chrisp, Director for the Centre for Guidelines, said: “Having our guidelines all in one place, in an easily accessible format, means we are able to share our knowledge and recommendations with health care professionals around the world, and learn from each other’s findings.
“NICE will continue to support, contribute to and learn from international efforts to coordinate the development and maintenance of high-quality evidence-based guidelines on COVID-19.”
By participating in this global knowledge exchange our rapid guidelines are drawing on, and contributing to, international evidence to inform the best approach to the COVID-19 crisis. These collaborations also enable us to ensure that our rapid guidelines are developed and updated to internationally recognised standards of best practice.
In addition to these collaboratives, NICE Scientific Advice is providing free fast track advice for researchers who are developing novel diagnostics or therapeutics for COVID-19. The team is working to help researchers from around the world optimise their approach to generating the essential evidence required for health technology assessments, which inform decision making.
NICE International is also continuing to provide an advisory service to international organisations, ministries and government agencies to support the use of evidence-based decision making in health and social care systems. The team is adapting most of its services so engagements can be delivered virtually, and is offering support via their webpage.
