There are about 131 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Rwanda. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
Background: Worldwide, injuries from trauma represent a major public health problem. The World Health Organization (WHO) has deemed this problem as one of the most important global priorities, calling 2011-2020 the 'Decade of Action for Road Safety'. Despite this, there is little empirical data in low and middle-income countries quantifying the burden of musculoskeletal injuries. Methods: INORMUS is a global, prospective, multi-center, observational cohort study. The primary objective of the study is to determine the mortality, re-operation and infection rates of musculoskeletal trauma patients within 30 days post-hospital admission. The INORMUS study seeks to enroll 40,000 patients from low-middle income countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The overall objective of this clinical pilot study is to determine at a random sampling time, the vaginal microbiome and metabolome of pregnant women, and to see if infection (bacterial vaginosis, vulvovaginal candidiasis, malaria) and exposure to environmental toxins affects could alter pregnancy and conception outcomes. It is hypothesized that infection and toxins will alter the vaginal microbiome and metabolome, increasing the risk of preterm labour and infertility in Rwandan women. In a sub-group of subjects, a preliminary assessment of the ability of orally administered probiotic lactobacilli to restore the vaginal microbiota to a healthy state and lower environmental toxins will be completed.
Rheumatic fever (RF) is an autoimmune disease that is mediated by the cellular and humoral immune response that follows an untreated pharyngeal Streptococcus pyogenes infection. The most serious complication is rheumatic heart disease (RHD), one of the most common problems facing children and young adults worldwide, which leads to chronic valvular lesions. It is estimated that 60% of all acute rheumatic fever cases will develop RHD. The pathogenesis of RHD is complex with both environmental and genetic factors contributing to its etiology. The investigators know little about the genetic etiology, cellular events and modifiers of progression of RHD, and there exists a wide range of disease severity and progression to severe valve pathology. Thus, the investigators will study the genetics of RHD in Rwanda, a country with a very high incidence of RHD, using a combination of next-generation targeted exome capture, transcriptomics, and expressed quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis.
The study will be an open-label, pilot study in virologically suppressed patients comparing the efficacy, safety and tolerability of two Antiretroviral regimen strategies: Arm A: "Immediate switch" Rilpivirine/Emtricitabine/Tenofovir (single tablet formulation (STF))at randomization Arm B: "Delayed switch" Continue Nevirapine/Lamivudine/other Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI)through 24 weeks then switch to STF of Rilpivirine/emtrictabine/tenofovir and followed through 48 weeks.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of mebendazole compared with placebo in pediatric participants with Helminth infections.
Strategies to reduce the burden of diabetes in Rwanda, like in other resource poor settings, include involving diabetic patients in their own care and targeting modifiable risk factors through adopting appropriate dietary and lifestyle habits. According to previous research carried out in developed countries, lifestyle modifications may have effect on the development of diabetes and prevention of its complications. However, direct evidence to show whether lifestyle intervention is beneficial for diabetic patients in resources limited countries like Rwanda is an open question. Though in these countries, access to healthy diet is claimed to be the barrier of implementation of therapeutic lifestyle based initiatives, we hypothesize that knowledge gaps are more important barriers than access to healthier diets and other lifestyle habits. We therefore would like to carry out this intervention to assess the effects of lifestyle education programs on glycemic control among people with diabetes followed up at CHUK.
DelAgua Health and Development, Manna Energy and the Rwanda Ministry of Health are collaborating on a project financed by carbon credits that will distribute household-based water filters and high-efficiency cook stoves to approximately 600,000 households in Rwanda. Prior to the full roll out of the campaign, the implementers are conducting research in connection with a distribution among 2000 households in western Rwanda. The objective of this matched cohort study (Phase 1B)are to investigate whether the filters and stoves delivered in October 2012 are still performing and in use, to determine whether they are associated with reductions in exposure to pathogens from drinking water and stoves, and to assembly information on health and other conditions necessary for the design of a large scale health impact evaluation.
It is well known from a range of observational and epidemiological studies that the lifetime risk of acquiring HIV among males can be significantly reduced via circumcision. Numerous papers on the topic were published in the past two decades to elevate HIV prevention awareness, especially in sub-Saharan countries. Rwanda has a national plan to offer a voluntary circumcision program to 2 million adult men in 2 years as part of a comprehensive HIV prevention package. To achieve this goal, the government is continuing to study the PrePex™ device, developed to enable rapid adult male circumcision in resource limited settings. In February 2012, Rwanda has received WHO recommendation to scale up Adult Male male circumcision (MC) using the PrePex device. Based on WHO recommendation (Use of devices for adult male circumcision in public health HIV prevention programs: Conclusions of the Technical Advisory Group on Innovations in Male Circumcision, March 2012, WHO/HIV/2012.7), which recommended that the phased implementation include an active surveillance of the first 1000 clients to identify and record all adverse events and side-effects based on standardized definitions. The active surveillance may change to passive surveillance after the first 1000 clients, if the incidence of events is reassuringly low, as determined by independent review.
DelAgua Health and Development, Manna Energy and the Rwanda Ministry of Health are collaborating on a project financed by carbon credits that will distribute household-based water filters and high-efficiency cook stoves to approximately 700,000 households in Rwanda. Prior to the full roll out of the campaign, the implementers are conducting a pilot project among 2000 households in western Rwanda. The objectives of this pilot evaluation are to document the delivery of the intervention to the intervention population, assess coverage and uptake of the intervention target households and conduct a 5-month randomised controlled trial among 500 households to assess the impact of the intervention on drinking water quality and indoor air quality.
Community Health Clubs to improve local sanitation, hygiene and health conditions have been implemented in several countries in Africa and Asia with some success. The Ministry of Health in Rwanda has committed to rolling out a program designed along similar lines, the Community Based Environmental Health Promotion Program (CBEHPP), in all 15000 villages across Rwanda. The main objective of the program is to achieve 'zero open defecation' in all villages of Rwanda, at least 80% hygienic latrine coverage and improvements in a range of health behaviors such as the use of mosquito nets, hand-washing with soap and the use of household water treatment. To evaluate the impact of the program on health, other socio-economic outcomes and community functioning, a single district has been chosen where 150 communities will be randomized to receive the intervention immediately or 18 months later. The evaluation is led by US based Innovation for Poverty Action (IPA) through researchers based at the National University of Rwanda, Georgetown University, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and New York University. The research team will work in close collaboration with the implementing team, which consists of the Ministry of Health, Rwanda and Africa AHEAD. The study will span three years, beginning in May 2013, and ending in late 2015.