The benefits of the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR) will be felt by
a wide audience including policy makers, health professionals, clinical trial funders,
development agencies, researchers, and the lay public.
Policy makers will benefit from the regulatory aspects of the Registry as
they will be able to keep track of all clinical trial activity in their country
and/or region. They will have a clearer idea of how clinical trial activity is serving
the health needs of the population, as the Registry will provide them with up-to-date
information on the nature and location of clinical trials being conducted. Policy
makers will also benefit from the information provided by those comprehensive systematic
reviews that will incorporate trial information from the Registry[1].
Health professionals will be able to find out information on trials in progress
so that they can advise patients about appropriate trials in which to participate.
Health professionals will also benefit from the evidence provided by comprehensive
systematic reviews which may include information directly from the PACTR.
Clinical trial funders may obtain information on what research is being conducted,
where the research is being conducted and by whom. This information will enable
them to allocate their funding in a more appropriate and effective manner.
Numerous development agencies have dedicated funding for the development
and enhancement of clinical trial activity and capabilities in Africa. The information
contained in the database will provide them with a better view and understanding
of the clinical trial activity and capacity in Africa.
Through a search of the PACTR database, researchers will be able to identify
"gaps" in the research so that they can better focus their research objectives and
activities.
The PACTR will also assist in meeting the ethical obligations of clinical trials
to their participants. The lay public will be able to find out about clinical
trials being conducted in their neighbourhoods. From the information provided they
will be able to decide if they are interested and or eligible to participate in
a particular trial.
[1] Although Cochrane systematic reviews are not a core objective of the
PACTR project, inclusion of recent trial information in the Registry will facilitate
the accessibility of this information for the conduct of up-to-date systematic reviews.