There are about 279 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Ethiopia. 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.
Women living in low-income countries are at elevated risk of death in connection to pregnancy, as well as infants born to women in such settings. It is probable that several factors are involved, such as poverty, lack of education and access to healthcare. Infectious diseases constitute important threats to maternal health in resource-limited settings. Tuberculosis (TB) is reported to be the third leading cause of maternal death globally. Furthermore, TB can be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy, with high risk of severe consequences for the infant. Despite these data, neither the role of TB in relation to co-existing risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes, nor the mechanisms involved, are well understood. It is likely that TB interacts with other characteristics, in particular socio-economic condition and HIV infection, which could obscure associations between TB and pregnancy outcomes. For this reason, it is critical to design studies so that the independent role of TB can be deduced. This project aims to investigate how TB infection in women affects the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in relation to co-existing factors, and how exposure to TB infection may impact growth and development of infants born to women with TB. In addition, mechanisms in which TB and the immune system during pregnancy will be explored. The project is conducted at public health facilities in Ethiopia, where 2 000 women have been recruited during antenatal care. These women will be followed until 5 years after delivery, along with their offspring born during the study period. Detailed data is collected at inclusion and at study visits during follow-up, with submission of samples for TB testing and immunological analyses. Better knowledge on the characteristics of TB infection in association with pregnancy, and how TB affects maternal and child health, can be used to construct new guidelines for management of TB in women of fertile age. This may contribute to reductions in adverse pregnancy outcomes, including maternal and infant deaths.
Recent advances in molecular diagnostics of tuberculosis, especially the GeneXpert Mycobacterium tuberculosis/Rifampicin test have reduced the time to diagnose Rifampicin Resistant Tuberculosis (RR-TB) but only rifampicin resistance is diagnosed, leading to presumptive diagnosis of resistance to isoniazid and maybe other drugs. Thus in low and middle income countries, most drug sensitivity testing relies on phenotypic drug resistance testing, which takes up to 4 months. In addition, currently, culture on monthly sputum samples is recommended by the World Health Organization for follow-up of Rifampicin Resistant Tuberculosis patients under treatment. Unfortunately, culture is often not locally available and samples need to be transported from field to culture laboratories. The associated transport delays lead to high rates of contamination and false negative culture, particularly in laboratories in low resource settings. Many gaps for the diagnosis and management of RR-TB patients still need to be addressed and the DIAMA project (DIAgnostics for Multidrug resistant tuberculosis in Africa) study aims to address some of them.
Cesarean section is one of the most common surgeries performed with the intention of optimizing maternal and fetal/neonatal outcomes. One of the major indications for cesarean delivery is "non-reassuring fetal status" (NRFS). Electronic fetal monitoring is used to evaluate and manage women while they are in labor. A fetal heart rate tracing is recorded on paper or electronically and produces a pattern to allow physicians to visually identify fetuses that are at risk for hypoxia and/or acidemia. This practice allows for prompt intervention via intrauterine resuscitation and expedited delivery if deemed necessary. National and international guidelines published by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics and American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology describe how fetal heart rate patterns obtained with electronic fetal monitoring should be interpreted and managed. In order to interpret fetal heart rate patterns, the ability to visualize a pattern is necessary. This is made possible either by using paper on which the fetal heart rate is recorded or electronic screens with recording systems. In hospitals where continuous fetal heart rate monitoring is available, but paper resources are depleted and electronic screens are not available, an image of the fetal heart rate pattern cannot be produced nor interpreted. Thus, electronic fetal monitoring is used as an incomplete tool has become standard of care for laboring patients. Historical Western data revealed that implementation of continuous fetal monitoring with pattern interpretation increased rates of cesarean delivery in comparison to intermittent auscultation. However, it is not clear if the inability to interpret a pattern (because of a lack of paper or electronic recording) results in increased or decreased cesarean rates in comparison to pattern interpretation. It is possible that the implementation of pattern interpretation could decrease cesarean delivery rates allowing increased or earlier opportunity for fetal resuscitation for patients with tracing abnormalities which may avert cesarean delivery. The investigators' aim is to assess cesarean delivery rates using electronic fetal monitoring with versus without pattern interpretation in a hospital in a low-middle income country where resources are lacking. If a decrease in cesarean delivery rate is observed and/or neonatal outcomes are improved, this study may serve as an impetus to encourage electronic fetal monitoring paper-producing companies to subsidize or donate supplies to hospitals in developing countries. Ensuring that fetal status is in fact non-reassuring by fetal heart rate pattern interpretation prior to proceeding with cesarean delivery may decrease the cesarean delivery rate while not compromising fetal outcomes.
Violence against women is a well understood devastating global pandemic, and human right violation. One in three women experienced intimate partner violence worldwide. In Ethiopia, the level of domestic violence against women is one of the highest in the world. However, Ethiopia is signatory for various conventions and incorporate into the constitution and other legal frameworks. Nevertheless, effective implementation of the existing policy documents, and engaging different stakeholders is very limited. There is paucity of evidence on piloting the feasibility of implementing community based preventive intervention programs. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to pilot feasibility and implement existing research evidence and policy documents at community level to prevent domestic violence against women in Awi zone, northwestern Ethiopia This study will be conducted in three districts of the Awi zone, Amhara regional state, Northwestern Ethiopia. General Objective:The overall aim of this study is to assess the outcome of community based interventions implementation to prevent domestic violence against women, enhance community response and determinants among women (15-49 years) in Awi Zone, Northwestern Ethiopia from November, 2017 to November, 2018. Specific Objectives 1. To assess the baseline level of domestic violence against women in the study area 2. To identify associated factors of domestic violence against women 3. To design intervention implementation strategy to tackle domestic violence against women 4. To implement culturally appropriate/acceptable interventions to address bottlenecks and domestic violence against women 5. To assess the outcome of community based intervention on domestic violence against women Research questions - How can prevent domestic violence against women through community based intervention? - What are the bottlenecks of prevention intervention implementation at community level? - How can implementers engage stakeholders to mobilize community and resource to implement existing evidence based interventions to transform gender norm? Research Hypothesis - Null hypothesis (Ho): this community based prevention intervention will not have effect (difference) on the level of domestic violence against women as compared with control (standard program). - Alternative Hypothesis (HA): community based prevention intervention will have a better effect to make an improvement on the level of domestic violence against women than control (standard services).
This observational study will examine the safety and efficacy of bedaquiline and delamanid used (individually, not together) in routine, multidrug regimens for treatment of MDR-TB. The information gathered in this study will inform doctors how best to use these TB drugs in the future.
This study investigates the association between locally consumed food items with anemia among pregnant women, in Addis Ababa city, Ethiopia.
Pre-school undernutrition is a global problem with life long adverse consequences. One form of undernutrition, chronic undernutrition or stunting, affects 171 million children under the age of 5 worldwide. 35% of these children live in Africa. In Ethiopia, the focus of this study, in 2014, 44.5% of children under 5 were stunted. Stunting is the consequence of several factors including low birth weights, sub-optimal infant and complementary feeding practices and repeated illness. In Ethiopia, complementary feeding is sub-optimal; only 4% of children aged 6-24 months met the minimum dietary diversity recommended by WHO. The investigators hypothesize four main reasons why many children and mothers in Ethiopia fall short of best practice in terms of meeting nutritional needs and providing appropriate childcare. (i) Lack of information on healthy eating and appropriate child-feeding practices; (ii) Limited affordability; (iii) Limited accessibility to markets and diverse food items; and (iv) Limited peer effects in spreading information and adopting new practices. This study will assess the efficacy of the interventions that address these four barriers to optimal complementary feeding practices in Ethiopia. Using a cluster randomized control design, mother-father-child pairs in two localities, Holeta and Ejere will be enrolled. Treatment will be randomized at the garee (village) level. There will be five treatment arms and a control group: T1, weekly maternal nutrition BCC sessions for four months; T2, weekly maternal nutrition BCC sessions for four months and weekly paternal nutrition BCC sessions for three months; T3, receipt of a food voucher for six months; T4, weekly maternal nutrition BCC sessions for four months and receipt of a food voucher for six months; T5 weekly maternal nutrition BCC sessions for four months and weekly paternal nutrition BCC sessions for three months and receipt of a food voucher for six months; and C, a control group. Within household, recipient of voucher (mother or father) will be randomly selected.
This study aims at evaluating the impact of integrating nutrition sensitive behavioral change communication (BCC) in the context of increased household production of chicken and eggs on women and children diet.
The research group developed a surgical simulation device, the Human Eyelid Analogue Device for Surgical Training And skill Reinforcement in Trachoma (HEAD START), to bridge the gap between classroom and live-surgery training specifically for trichiasis surgery. In most settings, HEAD START is utilized once during training, then surgeons move on to live surgery and typically do not return to the simulator. The research team is interested in determining whether HEAD START provides benefit for long-term trichiasis surgery training, since many surgeons operate seasonally, with long periods of downtime between surgical camps and with little field supervision. Participating surgeons will practice on HEAD START weekly, with monthly feedback from a senior supervisor. Researchers will assess their skill level at the start of HEAD START training and again at the start of the new surgical season in the fall of 2017. Researchers will also administer questionnaires to elicit feedback on the HEAD START training and supervision process.
This is an open label, Phase III, randomized, controlled, parallel arm multicentre non-inferiority clinical trial to compare the efficacy and safety of two combination regimens of Miltefosine and Paromomycin with the standard SSG-PM for the treatment of primary adult and children VL patients in Eastern Africa.