The Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group (CIDG) editorial base is located at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool, UK. Over 1000 authors from some 52 countries contribute to the preparation of the Cochrane Reviews. They are supported by an international team of Editors, each with topic or methodological expertise.
Since 1994, the CIDG has been preparing systematic reviews on the benefits and harms of healthcare interventions for infectious diseases, particularly malaria, tuberculosis, diarrhoea, and tropical diseases. As of 2015, we now also manage the HIV/AIDS portfolio of reviews.
Over the years the Group’s name has changed to reflect the expansion of its scope: Parasitic Diseases Group (1994 to 1995); Tropical Diseases Group (1996 to 1997); and Infectious Diseases Group (1997 to present). The CIDG, which is supported by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) through the Research, Evidence and Development Initiative (READ-It) programme aims to ensure that healthcare diseases and healthcare delivery related to low- and middle-income countries are included in the brief of Cochrane, and that people from these countries are involved in preparing Cochrane Reviews.
The CIDG’s main areas of work are on determination of the effects of interventions on the prevention or treatment infectious diseases of relevance to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and neglected tropical diseases.
The aims of the CIDG are to impact on policy and research in tropical diseases through the production of high quality, relevant, systematic reviews, and to lead developments in review quality improvement and effective dissemination of findings. Our plans for achieving this are set out in our Strategic Plan.
Furthermore, the CIDG works according to the guiding principles set out in the EHCRC Publishing Policy document.