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SANAS is an acronym for the South African National Accreditation System.

SANAS is recognised by the South African Government in Act 19 of 2006 as the single National Accreditation Body that gives formal recognition that Laboratories, Certification Bodies, Inspection Bodies, Proficiency Testing Scheme Providers and Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) test facilities are competent to carry out specific tasks.

SANAS accreditation certificates are a formal recognition that an organisation is competent to perform specific tasks.

SANAS is responsible for the accreditation of certification bodies for Quality Management Systems and Environmental Management Systems to ISO/IEC 17021(and the IAF interpretation thereof), laboratories (testing and calibration) to ISO/IEC 17025 and medical laboratories to ISO/IEC 17025 and/or ISO 15189. Inspection Bodies are accredited to ISO/IEC/17020. GLP facilities are inspected for compliance to OECD GLP principles. Verification laboratories are accredited to SANS 10378.

International assessment and accreditation are a reflection of sound QMS. Uganda subscribes to the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS), therefore, laboratories are accredited by SANAS. Laboratory accreditation provides a means of evaluating the competence of laboratories to perform specific types of testing, measurement and calibration.
Laboratories receiving certification of Star level 3, during ASLM SLIPTA audit, and above are recommended to apply to SANAS for international accreditation. According to SANAS website, from the time of applying the SANAS, the approximate duration for a laboratory to attain SANAS accreditation certificate is approximately 14 months. On attaining accreditation, laboratories continue to be followed for two years to ensure maintenance of accreditation body standards. This research however did not establish the processes private laboratories, including Lancet, progressed through to finally apply to SANAS for accreditation