The Department of Health will axe its contract with the National Clinical Evidence Taskforce in the new year.
After developing more than 200 recommendations for the management and care of people with covid-19, the National Clinical Evidence Taskforce announced today that its government funding had been cut.
The announcement came just two weeks out from the end of its contract on 31 December.
The taskforce, which is made up of 35 member organisations, came together in the early stages of the pandemic.
It is best known for its world-first “living guidelines” for covid, the work of about 200 clinicians across the country.
The alliance’s scope has since expanded to include creating and managing living guidelines for mpox, which appears to have been spared.
Funding for the mpox project comes from a charity, the Walter Cottoman Endowment Fund, rather than the Department of Health.
The organisation is not calling time on its pandemic efforts yet, pledging to search for alternative funding for the new year.
“We believe up-to-date guidance to support clinicians caring for people with covid-19 continues to be vital, especially at a time of rising cases and increasing pressure across the health system,” it said today.
Taskforce members include Cochrane Australia, the RACGP and ACRRM, along with most other medical colleges.
