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.
Children in extreme poverty lack adequate care and face increased health risks. The earlier poverty strikes in the developmental process, the more deleterious and long-lasting its effects. There is, however, growing evidence that early interventions can prevent the negative consequences. Such interventions are effective, particularly when they are of high quality, organized at home and parents are involved. Recently, baseline assessment of developmental and nutritional status of SOS children and children in extreme poverty in Jimma region of South-West Ethiopia revealed that these children have developmental problems in language, motor, social-emotional skills and nutritional status. The impact of play-oriented stimulation activities integrated into the existing SOS basic program, on developmental outcomes, has never been investigated in this context. The main objective of the study is, therefore, to evaluate the impact of play-oriented stimulation integrated into the basic SOS program on the developmental outcomes of children living with foster families. This was done by comparing the intervention children with their age-matched children (control), not receiving the stimulation package. It was hypothesized that this package would significantly improve the developmental skills of these children.
A cluster randomized controlled trial was chosen to exploit the robustness of this design to help ascertain the efficacy of the BCC intervention compared to the routine dietary practice. This protocol was developed according to the guidelines of the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement extension for cluster randomized trials. The present study is aims to evaluate the effect of improving micronutrient intake through behavior change communication intervention on nutritional status and academic performance of school age children. Moreover, it may help to prevent or mitigate malnutrition. However to the best knowledge of the authors, BCC intervention using posters, and lecture for school teachers and students have not yet been empirically tested generally in Ethiopia, specifically in the study area context. The present intervention is unique in combining the use of conventional BCC intervention tools, that is, lecture and posters as reminder for intervention reinforcement.
Fevers in childhood are common and usually self-resolve. In sub-Saharan Africa, when a febrile child presents to a community health worker (CHW), the child is assessed for malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea, and other danger signs, according to WHO guidelines for integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) of childhood illnesses. In the cases where 1) there are no danger signs present, and 2) malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea have been ruled out, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that all children be reassessed in 3 days. It is hypothesized that health outcomes for these cases will be equivalent if the CHW advises to come back in 3 days only if symptoms have not resolved. In order to assess this hypothesis, a two-arm cluster-randomized, community-based non-inferiority trial in Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Regional State (SNNPR) in Southwest Ethiopia will be conducted to assess the non-inferiority of CHW-advised systematic follow-up on day 3 compared to conditional follow-up for non-severe febrile illness in children age 2 to 59 months, in which no cause of fever can be identified and where danger signs are absent.
The present proof-of-concept Phase IIa study aims to confirm, in patients, the observed activity of MMV390048 against P. falciparum in pre-clinical models and the human Induced Blood-Stage Malaria (IBSM) challenge model, and to determine the activity against P. vivax malaria in patients, both over 14 and 28 days. Additional aims are to characterise the safety of MMV390048 in patients. Patient safety will be monitored for up to 35 days post-dose including pharmacokinetic assessments. The study will investigate descending single doses of MMV390048 in response to results obtained in the first cohort/dose in each malaria sub-type. The results of this trial will identify active, well-tolerated doses for investigation in combination with a partner drug within a Phase IIb clinical trial.
To collect pilot data on the prevalence and incidence of asymptomatic Leishmania donovani infection in HIV infected individuals in a visceral leishmaniasis (VL)-HIV endemic region to inform the feasibility of a larger study exploring a screen and treat strategy for VL in HIV co-infected individuals in East-Africa (Ethiopia).
This program is a comprehensive evaluation of rheumatic valvular heart disease (RVHD), Atrial fibrillation (AF)/flutter and stroke. A prospective, randomized, parallel group, open-label clinical trial of rivaroxaban versus standard vitamin K antagonists (VKA) therapy to evaluate non-inferiority of rivaroxaban to VKA, with testing for superiority if non-inferiority is satisfied.
Young children in Ethiopia lack sufficient protein and micronutrients for growth and development. The overall purpose is to assess the effects of promoting egg and eggshell powder consumption on improving the nutritional status of children 6 to 15 months in Halaba Special Woreda, Southern Ethiopia. The hypothesis is that providing chickens to produce eggs (egg and eggshell) for young children will improve growth in otherwise malnourished young children. Upon providing chickens, the nutritional status of young children prior and after the intervention (by 6 months) will be assessed. Identification of the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of mothers on egg and eggshell powder consumption by their children before and after the intervention in the intervention group will be done. Caregivers will be instructed to give each child 1 egg (cooked) and 1/4 "bottle cap" of eggshell (500 mg calcium) per day in the intervention. Hemoglobin will be measured as an indicator of overall nutritional status. Throughout the study, any problems arising in keeping chickens will be recorded in order to assess the feasibility and practicality of raising chickens as way to improve nutritional status of young children. The study is novel in that investigators are providing a way to have increased protein, increased micronutrients, and use of eggshell as a source of calcium.
Physicians know that their patients can react differently to the same medical treatment: for some of them, the drug will prove inefficient, whereas for others it might provoke side-effects, sometimes rather serious. Such differences in response to drug intake are due to several factors, of which molecular variations in specific genes, named " ADME " (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion). This project aims at investigating the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for the diversity of ADME genes in human populations. Because of their role at the interface between the organism and its chemical environment, ADME genes are likely targets of recent selective pressures linked to changes in the environments in which humans evolved, such as changes in dietary habits for instance. The aim of this project is to study the diversity of ADME genes and of their expression in five populations located along a latitudinal axis that extends from East Africa to Central Europe, passing through the Arabian Peninsula and the Mediterranean area, so as to take into account environmental factors that might have influenced the evolution of this diversity. This project is thus intended to evidence the evolutionary mechanisms that shaped genomic regions that are functionally important from the clinical and epidemiological point of view. Moreover, it will allow us to extend the knowledge of human molecular diversity and its evolution to a key-region of the peopling history of our species.
Alive & Thrive is an initiative that aims to scale up nutrition to save lives, prevent illness, and ensure healthy growth and development through improved infant young child feeding (IYCF) practices. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the Alive & Thrive intervention package, consisting of interpersonal communication, community mobilization activities, and radio campaign, can increase complementary feeding practices (minimum dietary diversity and minimum meal frequency) while sustaining exclusive breastfeeding rate among children less than two years of age. The impact evaluation uses a cluster-randomized design where 20 geographic clusters (woredas/districts) were randomized to two study arms - 10 intervention areas and 10 comparison areas. Repeated cross-sectional baseline and endline surveys will be used to assess program impact.
SWIFT I is a series of 3 cluster-randomized trials designed to assess several alternative strategies for trachoma control in communities that have been treated with many years of mass azithromycin distributions. The first trial (named WUHA) compares communities that receive a comprehensive Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) package to those that receive no intervention. The second trial (named TAITU-A) compares communities randomized to targeted antibiotic treatment versus those randomized to mass antibiotics for trachoma, and the third trial (TAITU-B) compares communities randomized to targeted antibiotics versus those randomized to delayed antibiotics. SWIFT II is a continuation of the first trial (WUHA I). WUHA I is an ongoing cluster-randomized trial in rural Ethiopia designed to determine the effectiveness of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) for trachoma. 40 communities were randomized in a 1:1 ratio either to a comprehensive WASH package or to no intervention. The primary outcome is ocular chlamydia, monitored annually for 3 years. In WUHA II we will treat all 40 WUHA communities with a single mass azithromycin distribution after the month 36 visit, and then continue the WASH intervention only in the 20 communities originally randomized to the WASH arm. We perform annual monitoring visits at months 48, 60, 72, and 84 for the primary outcome of ocular chlamydia among 0-5 year old children. A second aim of WUHA II is to perform a diagnostic test accuracy study of the tests already being conducted as well as several novel tests for trachoma surveillance. The novel tests include inexpensive, point-of-care nucleic acid amplification tests performed on conjunctival swabs, a lateral flow assay for chlamydia seropositivity tested on dried blood spots, and an automated algorithm to detect clinical signs of trachoma from conjunctival photographs. The primary objective of the second aim is to test the sensitivity and specificity of each of these trachoma surveillance tests. By comparing the combined azithromycin-WASH communities to communities receiving mass azithromycin alone, we investigate the benefit of combining the "A", "F", and "E" components of the SAFE strategy as opposed to focusing on antibiotics alone. This is an important question given the expense of WASH interventions and the limited resources of trachoma programs.