People making decisions about interventions, actions and strategies for natural disasters, humanitarian crises and other major healthcare emergencies need access to reliable evidence to help ensure that the choices they make are likely to do more good than harm. However, there are many gaps in this evidence base in a wide range of areas. This paper reports a priority setting exercise that was coordinated by Evidence Aid to identify thirty priorities for up-to-date systematic reviews of the effects of interventions, actions and strategies on health outcomes, which would be particularly relevant to those involved in disaster risk reduction, planning response and recovery at an international level. It builds from an ongoing needs assessment that had identified a couple of hundred relevant research questions, which were grouped under 43 themes. Ten of these themes were prioritized by an online survey and the questions attached to these themes were then discussed at a face-to-face meeting, leading to the generation of a list of 30 top priority questions which is presented in this paper. We recognize that a different group of people might have come to different priorities but regard this as an important starting point, and the extensive efforts that were made to be inclusive in gathering opinions should help ensure their wide relevance.
Author Profile
E A P S G: Evidence Aid Priority Setting Group
Members of the Evidence Aid Priority Setting Group: Claire Allen (Evidence Aid); Mathias Altmann (Action Contre La Faim); Stella Anyangwe (Independent consultant); Grazia M. Caleo (Medecins Sans Frontieres); Jess Camburn (ELRHA / Save the Children); Mike Clarke (Evidence Aid); Rudi Coninx (World Health Organization); Katherine Cowan (Cowan Associates); Sally Crowe (Crowe Associates); Philip du Cros (Medecins Sans Frontieres); Kate Godden (Nutrition Works); Brendan Gormley (Independent consultant); Scott Green (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs); Samuel Hauensteinswan (Action Contre La Faim); Bonnix Kayabu* (Evidence Aid); Chris Lewis (Department for International Development (DFID)); John Mitchell (ALNAP); Virginia Murray (Public HealthEngland); Carlos Navarro-Colorado (Centres for Disease Control); Cecile Salpeteur (Action Contre La Faim); David Sanderson (OxfordBrookesUniversity); Kevin Savage (World Vision International); Andy Seal (UniversityCollegeLondon); Emma Sydenham (Cochrane Injuries Group); Ajay Tripathy (South Asian Cochrane Centre); Axel van de Veegaete (Red Cross,Brussels); Mark van Ommeren (World Health Organization); Vincent Virgo (IFRC and Red Crescent Societies); Michelle Young (Independent consultant). *unable to attend the meeting in person