• 1. Evidence-based Social Science Research Center, School of Public Health, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, P. R. China;
  • 2. McMaster Health Forum, Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton L8S 4L6, Canada;
  • 3. Innovation Laboratory for Evidence-based Social Science, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, P. R. China;
YANG Kehu, Email: yangkh-ebm@lzu.edu.cn
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Decision-making is often a complex and hard-to-routinize process. Based on the decision-making experience of fighting COVID-19, policymakers have gradually realized that climate action, quality education, and other societal challenges, as well as the sustainable development goals (SDGs) need to be addressed with the best available evidence using an evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) approach. The Global Commission on Evidence was established in 2021. In addition, the Evidence Commission issued reports in 2022 and 2023. A systematic methodology to address societal challenges with EIDM has been constructed in the report. Five types of domestic evidence (data analytics, evaluation, modeling, qualitative insights, and behavioural/implementation research) and four steps in decision-making process (understanding a problem and its causes, selecting an option for addressing the problem, identifying implementation considerations, and monitoring implementation and evaluating impacts) were used to support four types of decision-makers (government policymakers, organizational leaders, professionals and citizens) in EIDM, as demonstrated by the reports. To further disseminate the concept and methodology of EIDM globally, the secretariat works with 25 Evidence Commissioners to write the report, and continues to cooperate with Country Leads Group from 12 countries to conduct rapid evidence-support system assessments (RESSAs), and collaborates with Evidence Commission Implementation Council to accelerate the implementation of 24 recommendations. The main history, core methodology, and latest developments of the Global Committee on Evidence were systematically reviewed in this paper. We aimed to show decision-makers a new version of how to scientifically address the societal challenges of EIDM.

Citation: SONG Xuping, John N. Lavis, CHEN Yaolong, YANG Kehu. A pioneer in addressing societal challenges with evidence-informed decision-making: Global Commission on Evidence. Chinese Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine, 2023, 23(10): 1222-1228. doi: 10.7507/1672-2531.202305076 Copy

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