There are about 340 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Malawi. 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.
Conventional indirect indicators of iron status, using serum and red blood cell biomarkers, are confounded by inflammation from common infections in sub-Saharan Africa, a region with a high prevalence of iron deficiency, making the assessment of iron balance and efficiency of iron intervention difficult. A new method allowing accurate measurement of long-term oral iron absorption and allowing the estimation of iron requirements is highly needed. Such a novel method to quantify iron absorption and requirements using isotope dilution measurements in children should be validated in the present prospective observational study by following-up a group of 49 children given a stable iron isotope in an earlier trial. We will request seven blood samples within 2 years (sampling every four months) from the participants which will allow us to measure isotopic dilution for estimating total oral iron absorption over these 24 months.
The study was done to: - Start antiretroviral therapy (ART) early in those recently or acutely infected with HIV-1 - See how starting ART as soon as the infection is found affects the amount of HIV-1 in blood and how well the body fights the HIV-1 infection - Look at the amount of HIV-1 DNA (genetic material for HIV-1) seen in CD4+ T-cells (infection-fighting cells in blood) after 48 weeks of ART - See how early treatment for HIV affects the numbers of HIV-1 infection fighting cells (CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells) in blood
Lighthouse, in cooperation with the University Heidelberg Public Health Institute and the University Köln (Cologne) would like to set up a cohort to study baseline characteristics and long-term clinical outcomes of patients using Tenofovir based Antiretroviral Therapy at the Lighthouse. As of March 2014, patients above 18 years and giving informed consent coming to the Lighthouse to newly initiate ART will be approached to enroll in the cohort. The results will be disseminated both nationally at the Ministry of Health Technical Working Group (TWG), at the annual Research Dissemination and Best Practices conferences of the College of Medicine and National AIDS Commission as well as internationally. The results will also be written up for publication in appropriate peer-reviewed journals.
This study is designed to evaluate a two-year randomized intervention in Malawi that provides cash transfers to current schoolgirls (and young women who have recently dropped out of school) to stay in (and return to) school in order to understand the possible effects of such programs on the sexual behavior of the beneficiaries and their subsequent HIV risk.
The use of lipid-based nutrients (LNS), such as Nutributter or fortified spread (FS), have been associated with improved growth and development outcomes among infants in Ghana and Malawi. Modified versions of such supplements have been developed to improve their nutrient density and quality and to lower their costs. Such modified products have proven acceptable to pregnant women in Malawi and Ghana. In the present trial, the investigators aim to test the effect of LNS on pregnancy and child outcomes, when given during pregnant and lactating women and their infants from 6 to 18 months of age. In control groups, participants will receive either iron+folate tables during pregnancy only or multiple micronutrient tablets during pregnancy and first six months of lactations. The main hypothesis to be tested suggests that the mean length-for-age Z-score (LAZ) of 18-month-old infants who received LNS between 6 and 18 months of age and whose mothers were provided with LNS during pregnancy and the first 6 months of lactation is higher than the mean LAZ score of same age infants who received no dietary supplements and whose mothers received iron-folate supplementation during pregnancy only. To detect the long-term effect of the LNS supplementation, we now propose to conduct a follow-up study when the children are 9 years old, to see if the intervention had effect on children's growth, cardiometabolic and respiratory status and neurocognitive development.
A single dose of nevirapine (SD NVP) given to an HIV infected pregnant woman followed by a single dose to her infant has been shown to be an effective way of reducing the risk of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based antiretroviral regimen versus a protease inhibitor (PI)-based regimen in HIV infected infants who had or had not been exposed to SD NVP for prevention of MTCT. >> >> A five year follow up has been added to the study.
The purpose of this study is to examine whether treatment of pregnant Malawian women with repeated doses of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and azithromycin antibiotics will prevent preterm deliveries and result in other health benefits both for the mother and the foetus/newborn.