The South African Cochrane Centre (SACC) is part of the international Cochrane Collaboration that is a non-profit organisation operating worldwide, which disseminates up-to-date reviews on the effects of healthcare interventions in order to help people make well-informed decisions.
Systematic literature reviews attempt to answer important healthcare questions by identifying and evaluating all relevant research studies and synthesizing their results. These reviews apply rigorous and explicit methods to minimize systematic error (bias) and random error (the play of chance) in research. Well-conducted systematic reviews provide the most authoritative source of evidence on the efficacy of preventive, therapeutic, and rehabilitative interventions.
Systematic reviews produced by The Cochrane Collaboration are subject to extensive peer review, follow a standard format and are regularly updated in response to new information.
These reviews are published in an electronic database known as the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (together with other databases of interest to healthcare decision-makers) in the form of The Cochrane Library.
The SACC is currently one of 12 Cochrane Centres worldwide
The SACC is the only Cochrane Centre in Africa and serves as the reference Centre for individuals in the following African countries who would like to contribute to The Cochrane Collaboration:
Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Comoros, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Vision
Health care decision making in the African region will be informed by high quality, timely and relevant research evidence.
Mission
To prepare and maintain systematic reviews of the effects of health care interventions. To promote access to and the use of evidence from systematic reviews in healthcare decision making throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
Goals
- To increase the number of high quality, up-to-date Cochrane systematic reviews relevant to the African region
- To promote access to Cochrane systematic reviews and derivative products in countries for which the South African Cochrane Centre (SACC) is the reference Cochrane Centre
- To promote evidence-based practice and policy in the African region
- To promote the science of research synthesis
- To promote the optimal functioning and sustainable growth of The Cochrane Collaboration
See also…
World Health Organisation
Medical Research Council
Health Systems Trust (HST)
