Page 118 - SAMRC AnnualReport 2025-26

Cochrane
South Africa

UNIT DIRECTOR:
Prof. Mark Engel
mark.engel@mrc.ac.za

Overview of the Research Unit leadership, supporting equitable, ethical, and
contextually relevant health decision-making at
Cochrane South Africa (CSA) is an Intramural
Research Unit of the SAMRC. The Unit’s current national, regional, and global levels.
portfolios include Clinical Trial Registries, Methods
Research, Pandemic Preparedness, Vaccine Key Milestones and Achievements
Implementation Research, Social and Behavioural During the 2025/2026 financial year, CSA continued
Science, and Knowledge Translation. to strengthen evidence-informed decision-making
within the South African health system through
CSA is part of the global Cochrane network, high-quality evidence synthesis, focused training,
dedicated to synthesising and translating high- and mentorship of novice reviewers.
quality research evidence to support informed
health decision-making. The unit plays a key role One of the Unit’s flagship initiatives was its
in strengthening evidence-based healthcare partnership with the SAMRC’s Health Systems
in South Africa and across the African region Research Unit and the Stellenbosch University
by producing systematic reviews, supporting Centre for Evidence-based Health Care on
guideline development, and building capacity the Evidence to Decision (E2D) project, a
among researchers, policymakers, and healthcare Department of Health-funded initiative. As part
practitioners. CSA’s work closely aligns with national of this collaboration, CSA hosted a three-day
health priorities and supports policy processes Evidence to Decision Protocol Development
within the National Department of Health (NDoH) Workshop to improve the quality and relevance of
through ongoing engagement with key structures evidence synthesis used to inform national health
and committees.

The Unit hosts and manages two essential clinical
trial registries that encourage trial transparency,
regulatory oversight, and research accountability at
both continental and national levels. These include
the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR),
the only World Health Organization International
Clinical Trials Registry Platform primary registry
in Africa, which supports the registration and
oversight of clinical trials conducted across the
continent, and the South African National Clinical
Trials Register (SANCTR), a national registry owned
by the NDoH and mandated to supervise all clinical Cochrane SA staff exhibited the Cochrane
trials conducted in South Africa. library at the 17th International Aging
Conference held in Cape Town.
Overall, CSA continues to serve as a trusted source
of independent evidence and methodological

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