South African Cochrane Centre
 Director:
Prof Jimmy Volmink
E-mail: jvolmink@sun.ac.za
The South African Cochrane
Centre (SACC) is part of the international Cochrane Collaboration (http://www.cochrane.org)
that is a non-profit organization 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 14 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 within Africa will be informed by high quality, timely and relevant research evidence.
Mission
To prepare and maintain Cochrane Reviews of the effects of health care interventions. To promote access to and the use of best evidence in healthcare decision-making within Africa.
Goals
- To increase the number of relevant high quality, up-to-date Cochrane Reviews
- To promote access to Cochrane Reviews and derivative products in countries for which the SACC is the reference Cochrane Centre
- To promote evidence-based practice and policy
- To promote the science of research synthesis
- To promote the optimal functioning and sustainable growth of The Cochrane Collaboration
- To support and promote clinical trial registration.
What
is a systematic review?
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