Mohammad Al-Ubaydli’s blog

By October 2008 Bahrain’s Cochrane center had published 10 evidence-based medicine reviews, topping the output of Egypt (8), Pakistan (8), Iran (6) and Saudi Arabia (4). In fact, in the Middle East, only Israel has produced more reviews, with 24 published to date. But Cochrane Bahrain only started publishing in 2004 and with 4 reviews published this year to Israel’s 2 I have high hopes for the future.

Why is this important? Cochrane reviews themselves are important because they represent the medical profession’s consensus evaluation of what treatments work and what other treatments to avoid. Its authors look at all existing research for each disease and treatment. The output of this international body of clinical scientists improves patient care every day.

Bahrain’s performance is important because of what it says about the country’s integration with rigorous international scientific work. But its relative performance to that of its wealthier and larger neighbours is what impresses me the most. If you take reviews per capita, Bahrain manages to top even the output of Israel.

I hope that the Bahraini government increases its funding of Cochrane Bahrain, the only such center in the Arab world and one which is becoming a model for other centers around the world.