The Sidra Medical and Research Center, which is scheduled to open by the end of 2011, would become the first health care facility in Qatar to introduce Evidence Based Health Care (EBHC). EBHC is a relatively new concept in health care where decisions that affect the care of patients are taken with due weight given to all valid, relevant scientific information. Sidra, the super specialty hospital for women and children coming up in the Education City is planning to introduce EBHC with the support of the Joanna Briggs Institute in Australia, one of the few organisations worldwide specialising in EBHC. Prof Alan Pearson, executive director of the Institute is currently in Doha at the invitation of Sidra. Yesterday, he gave a presentation on EBHC before a gathering that comprised experts from Sidra, the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), University of Calgary, Weill Cornell Medical Medical College in Qatar, among others. Talking to the media after the lecture, Pearson said EBHC has been gaining popularity worldwide including in the Middle East region. “EBHC is all about bringing together the relevant medical information needed by doctors, nurses and other health care workers in a way that is easily accessible,” said Pearson. The knowledge of a doctor is limited and just because of the information overload and absence of summarized evidence, he can not have easy access to all the information that he is looking for while dealing with a patient. EBHC aims to help them, by providing quick and easy access to relevant information. “We are now working with Sidra to develop the system in Qatar, since the country still does not have EBHC. With its high quality of medical care, Sidra can become a model for other healthcare providers in this field, ” said Pearson. Sidra has already become a member of the Joanna Briggs Institute, which is a non-profit entity providing EBHC support to countries as well as individual healthcare providers. The information is provided in a summarised format that is easily available for users on their fingertips. “Our focus is not just on doctors but also nurses and other health care workers. When the doctors make mistakes, others should show the right way,” said Pearson. Suzi Robertson Malt, senior planning consultant-education at Sidra and Terry O Donovan, its public relations and marketing project director were also present. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=January2009&file=Local_News2009012651134.xml

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