There are about 5 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Angola. 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.
Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is among the world's most common and devastating blood disorders, affecting more than 300,000 newborns per year. Most infants with SCA are born in the low-resource settings of sub- Saharan Africa, where an estimated 50-90% will die before 5 years of age due to lack of early diagnosis and appropriate care. Hydroxyurea is a safe and effective once-daily oral medication that has become the standard of care for the treatment of children with SCA in high-resource settings. There is now a growing body of evidence to support the safety and clinical benefits of hydroxyurea for the treatment of SCA in sub-Saharan Africa. The requirement for frequent laboratory monitoring, uncertainties about appropriate, most effective dosing, and the concern for hematologic laboratory toxicities, however, will continue to limit widespread hydroxyurea utilization and real-world effectiveness. The investigators have recently developed and prospectively evaluated an individualized, pharmacokinetics-guided hydroxyurea dosing strategy for children with SCA that has demonstrated optimal clinical and laboratory benefits with minimal toxicity. In this research study, the investigators aim to extend this precision medicine approach to Africa.
Ectopic Pregnancy is an entity in which a fertilized ovum is implanted outside its normal place, is considered a public health problem worldwide and is one of the main causes of maternal mortality in the first trimester. The availability of high sensitivity methods of detection of gonadotrophins and the use of high resolution transvaginal ultrasonography have allowed an earlier diagnosis of the same, enabling less aggressive treatments such as the use of parenteral MTX, with the intention of avoiding mutilating surgical treatment , preserving the tube and eventually improving future fertility expectations. The surgical treatment is of choice, this can be laparoscopically or by laparotomy. In this case, we need to preserve fertility, the most indicated is linear salpingostomy; In spite of the existence other techniques.
REACH is a prospective, phase I/II open-label dose escalation trial of hydroxyurea for children with confirmed SCA between 12 months and 10 years of age. The short-term goal is to obtain critical pilot data regarding the feasibility, safety, and benefit of hydroxyurea for children with SCA in multiple distinct research settings in Africa. Based on that information, the longer-term goal is to make hydroxyurea more widely available for children with SCA in Africa, particularly those identified with SCA through expanded newborn screening programs.
The main purpose of this trial is to test if mortality of childhood bacterial meningitis can be reduced by slow, continuous infusion of cefotaxime initially, instead of the traditional bolus administration four times daily (qid), combined with high-dose paracetamol orally, when both treatments are executed for the first 4 days. The series will be collected at Hospital Pediátrico David Bernardino, Luanda, Angola. The recruitment of patients begins, the conditions permitting, in early 2012. The criteria for patient participation is a child at the age of 2 months to 15 years who presents with the symptoms and signs suggestive of bacterial meningitis, for whom a lumbar puncture is performed, and the cerebrospinal fluid analysis suggests bacterial meningitis.
Human African Trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness has made a spectacular return during the last decade, and in many places the demand largely surpasses the capacities of the treatment centers. Treatment of the disease remains unsatisfactory. All currently used drugs must be administered parenterally, treatment is lengthy, and adverse drug reactions frequent. There are currently no drugs which might be used as a tool to support disease control that is easily administered and has low toxicity. This study aims to assess the efficacy of DB289, a new, oral drug for treatment of first stage sleeping sickness. The project will be executed in the framework of an international consortium consisting of more than a dozen partners from academia, industry, and the Ministries of Health of Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.