Nephrologist and associate professor Senior Lecturer in Internal Medicine at the College of Medical Sciences of the University of Calabar, Emmanuel Effa was one of the first RAP cohort in 2005. He described himself as having “drifted” towards Cochrane because he had a specific research question that required an answer.

“We were naïve authors. Most were from Nigeria and Kenya. We were supported to be trained but also to mentor others. We initially spent a month in Cape Town to develop the protocol. And then came back at the end to ‘finishing school’ to complete the review. We kept in touch throughout and received lots of support from the Cochrane SA group.”

Effa’s initial review, published in 2008, looked at Azithromycin for treating typhoid and paratyphoid fever.  

Because of his interest in the field, Effa had volunteered at Cochrane Nigeria and on completion of his RAP training helped in starting a similar mentoring programme in Nigeria – open to anyone and facilitated by grant funding. “We eventually began to co-ordinate broader training in evidence synthesis, particularly systematic reviews. We ran courses by invitation and the large number of Nigerian researchers registered titles and did reviews.”

“The mentee-mentor model works very well for first-time authors,” he said. “It also facilitates equity by including women and authors from more disadvantaged settings. Authors now come to RAP Nigeria which is an abridged form – two weeks initially and two weeks finishing school. On site you are actively working with mentors, coupled with fellowship for specific reviews, all customised for trainees.”

Effa transitioned from being a trainee himself to being a member of the Cochrane Trainers Network to being an editor with Cochrane Infectious Diseases and Cochrane Kidney and Transplant review groups, and the co-lead of the West African regional hub of Cochrane Africa.

“We developed capacity in knowledge translation as well as in doing effectiveness reviews. My colleagues and I were given and also leveraged many opportunities to become Cochrane champions in Africa.”

“The spin-off is also in developing the local professional community in KT activities as well as in engagement with media and community groups. Relationships have blossomed over time. Many more Africans are now involved in reviews as both lead and support authors. Evidence-informed healthcare and policy making has been championed by Cochrane Africa members.”

And looking to the future he said: “Cochrane will need to maintain the basic principles – this is a high priority in the latest strategy. There was too much emphasis on effectiveness reviews in the early days – it’s important to expand the brief to include other areas including prognostic and qualitative reviews. It’s a timely response to the requirement for evidence.”