“The good news is that evidence can matter. The bad news is that it often does not.”1 If imitation is the sincerest form of fl attery, the clinicians and clinical epidemiologists who promoted evidence-based medicine in the early 1990s should feel fl attered. Evidence-based medicine now has many imitators: from evidence-based nursing,2 dentistry3 and public health4 through to evidence-based soci...

This article examines the implicit promises of fairness in evidence based medicine (EBM), namely to avoid discrimination through objective processes, and to distribute effective treatments fairly. The relationship between EBM and vulnerable groups (such as those disadvantaged by virtue of poverty, ethnicity, age, gender, mental health problems or similar) is examined. Several aspects of EBM are...

healthcare decisions are often made under pressure, with varying levels of information in a changing clinical context. with limited resources and a focus on improving patient outcomes, healthcare managers and health professionals strive to implement both clinical and cost-effective care. however, the gap between research evidence and health policy/clinical practice persists despite our best eff...

the application of equiframe in the analysis of sexual and reproductive health policies by ivanova et al to a new thematic area, their selection of only some of the core concepts of human rights in health service provision and the addition of new vulnerable groups relevant to the purpose of their analysis, are all very welcome developments. we also applaud their application of equiframe to poli...

Abstract On 6 December 2006, Australia and Korea announced a joint study on a possible Australia-Korea free trade agreement (AKFTA) to promote trade and economic relations between the two countries. The paper provides empirical evidence on the possible gains and their transmission mechanism from this agreement. Significantly, it uses a new economic policy modelling approach, the endogenous grav...

recent strong growth of china’s exports has elevated the country to a rising global economic power and caused geo-political concern to policy-makers in the country and its trading partners world-wide. what are the determinants of this growth, how has it affected major economies in asean (world bank, 2009) in particular, and what kind of evidence-based responses are required and appropriate? the...