PLENARY SESSIONS

There will be a plenary session each morning from 24 to 27 October from 09:00 to 10:30. These sessions will focus on the theme of the Colloquium and address questions related to evidence-based health care (EBHC), including: What is EBHC and how is it important to different types of decision-makers? What are the priorities for evidence and how should priorities be set? How can evidence be made more accessible to decision-makers? What should decision-makers do when there is a lack of evidence? A mixture of perspectives will be presented and discussed, including patient, clinical and policy-maker perspectives. These sessions will also have a broad international perspective, including perspectives from low- and middle-income countries and particularly Latin American perspectives. In addition, special sessions are planned during the parallel session time following each plenary session, to allow for more detailed discussion of some of the specific issues raised in the plenary sessions.

In addition to the above, a series of five plenary sessions is planned at this year's Colloquium that will address health technology assessment (HTA) issues. These sessions are targeted at Brazilian participants, but everyone is welcome. Sessions will include: An introduction to HTA; Judgements about the quality of evidence and recommendations; HTA of high-cost technologies; Economic evaluations in HTA; and HTA of diagnostic technologies.

There will be simultaneous translation to/from both Portuguese and English for the plenary sessions.

ORAL AND POSTER PRESENTATIONS

Abstract submissions have now closed and we are pleased to advise that we received a healthy number of abstracts. These have been assessed, and people have been informed of the outcome of their abstract submission.

WORKSHOPS

Workshops are one of the highlights of any Colloquium and we are aiming to host an excellent selection of quality workshops. Workshops will be interactive and tailored to meet the needs of both newcomers and experienced contributors to The Cochrane Collaboration. They will address a wide range of methodological issues related to the work of the Collaboration, HTA and the theme of the Colloquium. Abstracts for workshops were submitted using the online system and selected by the Workshop Committee. Requests for workshops on specific topics were also welcomed. The workshop proposal deadline was 14 May 2007, and people have been informed of the outcome of their workshop proposal.

MEETINGS

Rooms will be available at the conference centre for entity meetings, at the following times:

22 October           14:00 to 18:00*
23 October            All day*
24 – 27 October   07:30 to 09:00 and 12:30 to 14:00**
28 – 29 October   All day*

Meeting room requests can be submitted online up until 6 October 2007.

*There may be a charge for meeting rooms on the pre- and post-Colloquium days (22, 23, 28, 29 October). Please check with the Colloquium Secretariat regarding early booking of rooms on these dates [cochrane.colloquium@bireme.org].

Please note: It is not possible to book accommodation at the WTC Hotel (the conference hotel) or nearby hotels on the weekend of 20-21 October 2007, due to the Formula One race taking place in town on Sunday afternoon. These hotels are already fully booked.  Accommodation in these hotels will be available from 12:00 midday on Monday 22 October 2007. For your convenience, we strongly recommend that you stay at the WTC Hotel or close by (see the options available on this site).

**It will be possible to reserve a table for a meeting during lunch on 24, 25, 26 and 27 October. Rooms will also be available for meetings on the afternoon of Thursday 25 October from 14:00 to 18:00, although we do hope that Colloquium participants will take advantage of the scheduled 'free' afternoon, and join in the soccer tournament or the dance class!

There is lots of space for informal meetings throughout the Colloquium, both in the conference centre and in the adjacent hotel.