There are about 128 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.
This is a prospective observational study enrolling People Living with HIV (PLHIV) who are on a Dolutegravir-based AntiRetroviral Treatment (ART) regimen and experiencing virologic failure. Virologic failure is defined as two consecutive viral load measurements of >1000 copies/mL of blood. The main aim of the study is to identify the drug-resistance mutations in the viral genome that are associated with this failure. To achieve this goal, patients fulfilling the eligibility criteria will be invited for a single study visit for the collection of blood. The extracted HIV virus will be sequenced through whole genome sequencing methods to identify the drug-resistance mutations. The study is conducted in 15-20 countries within six regions of the IeDEA cohort (International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS).
The aim of this study is to perform a performance evaluation of novel diagnostic tools for detecting malaria in malaria-endemic countries. At the beginning of 2022, FIND launched a call for innovation with the distinct aim to identify malaria innovations that have the potential to address the technical and operational limitations of current malaria RDTs, particularly in view of the emergence of P. falciparum parasites with hrp2/3 deletions, the need for improved tools to identify all Plasmodium species and/or the need for improved surveillance. This study will generate valuable data on the performance of these novel non-HRP2-based tests and inform FIND and developers on technical and operational assay optimization requirements for accelerated access of these tools to market.
This is a mixed-methods program evaluation from a health systems and policy perspective, involving (i) stakeholder analysis, (ii) policy-implementation gap analysis, and (iii) comparative country case studies. This study aims to understand how national oxygen strategies achieve impact at national, and subnational level, across country contexts, at what cost. The the investigators seek to: 1. Involve policymakers, implementers (including private sector), and medical oxygen users in identifying challenges and understanding potential solutions to medical oxygen access; 2. Generate new data on how medical oxygen systems work and can be improved from multiple perspectives; 3. Draw lessons on medical oxygen that can directly inform national and global practice and policy. This study will be conducted in 6 of the 9 countries participating in the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) led Medical Oxygen Implementation (MOXY) program (Uganda, Nigeria, Rwanda, Liberia, Lao PDR, Cambodia). Key informants will be selected representing government, non-governmental agencies, professional associations, private sector, and civil society. This study will be completed over 4 years, with timelines varying between country study sites.
REAL-MOXY is a set of 5 mixed methods studies designed to understand how oxygen and pulse oximetry are used (or not used) at a facility level, to identify opportunities and barriers for strengthening oxygen systems for beneficiaries, users and managers.
The goal of this study is to assess the impact of a first aid training delivered through a blended learning approach on learning outcomes and helping behaviour in adult laypeople in Rwanda. Participants will be randomly assigned to either: - a first aid training with blended learning approach; - a first aid training with conventional face-to-face approach; - no first aid training. All participants will be asked before, immediately after, and 6 months after the first aid trainings to complete - a questionnaire on first aid-related knowledge, self-efficacy, and willingness to help; - a practical test on first aid-related skills. The helping behaviour of the participants will be surveyed before and 6 months after the first aid trainings have been completed. Researchers will compare the effects in learning outcomes and helping behaviour after 6 months between: - the first aid training with blended learning approach and no first aid training; - the first aid training with blended learning approach and first aid training with conventional face-to-face approach.
Partners In Health (PIH), in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, aims to develop and evaluate an SMS-based intervention for Community Health Workers (CHWs) to combat COVID-19 and mental health-related misinformation in Haiti, Rwanda, and Malawi. The study involves three aims: identifying locally relevant misinformation through a card-sorting exercise with CHWs, developing targeted messages through cognitive interviewing, and evaluating the effectiveness of SMS-based educational message dissemination via a randomized controlled trial. The evaluation will assess the impact on public health practices, knowledge and attitudes among CHWs, and knowledge and attitudes among community members.
Acute hypoxemia is common and deadly in resource variable settings. While studies in high income countries (HICs) have indicated a possible benefit to high flow oxygen as compared with standard flow oxygen, rigorous studies in low or lower middle income countries (LMICs) have not been performed. Studies in sepsis have demonstrated that interventions that improve outcomes in one context may actually be neutral or harmful in a different context. The goal of this study is to test whether high flow oxygen results in better outcomes for hypoxemic adult patients, as compared with standard flow oxygen, in five LMIC hospitals. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. For hypoxemic adults in these LMIC study settings, does high flow oxygen or standard flow oxygen result in lower mortality? 2. What are the facilitators and barriers to using high flow oxygen in these settings? 3. Does high flow or standard flow oxygen use more oxygen? Participants will be randomized to receive either high flow oxygen through a large nasal cannula, or to receive standard flow oxygen, through nasal cannulas, face masks, or non-rebreather masks. Researchers will compare the outcomes for the two groups, to see if one group of patients has better outcomes than the other. The study will also examine how much oxygen is used by the two patient groups, as well as other factors relevant to the feasibility of implementation of high flow oxygen in these sites.
Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic brain disorders. Up to 85% of persons living with epilepsy (PwE) live in the developing world. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Rwanda has one of the highest prevalence rates (±5%). Higher prevalence in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) can partly be attributed to differences in risk factors for epilepsy of which a great number are preventable. Expanding knowledge on risk factors and etiologies of epilepsy in Rwanda can lower the portion of preventable epilepsies and decrease the high number of Rwandan PwE. This project will focus on the investigation of risk factors and etiologies of epilepsy in urban and rural Rwanda using a nationwide approach.
Investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial substituting traditional forms of household energy (biomass for cooking and kerosene for lighting) with liquified petroleum gas (LPG) stoves/fuel and solar power (in areas marker for solar grids by the Government of Rwanda) in rural Rwanda. Eligible households (n=650) using traditional forms of energy will be recruited from eastern Rwanda. In each household, investigators will recruit either one adult female and one adult male or just one adult, and one child (aged 8-15 years). Following baseline health and exposure assessment, a randomized treatment arm (n=250 homes) will receive a full subsidy for LPG fuel and solar power, a control arm (n=250 homes) will continue to use traditional energy, and a random-subsidy arm (n=150 homes) will be randomized to a discounted price (at baseline and every 6-months) for solar and LPG in a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) service model (i.e., pre-pay a desired amount through mobile money). The random subsidy arm will then decide whether or not to cook with the discounted LPG or their traditional stove. Participants will be followed for 3 years with repeated measures of household air pollution (HAP) exposure (48-hour fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and black carbon (BC)), energy use, health, and preferences. Primary health endpoints include blood pressure (BP) in adults and lung-function growth in children; secondary endpoints include BP in children and lung-function change in adults. To complement the trial, the random-subsidy arm will generate policy-relevant information on causal relationships between energy costs, solar and LPG usage, and HAP exposures. The investigators propose 3 aims: Aim 1. In an ITT framework, investigators will evaluate the effect of a household energy intervention on exposure to HAP and indicators of morbidity separately among Rwandan women, men, and children within n=500 households. Aim 2. Using exposure-response modeling, investigators will characterize associations between exposure to HAP and indicators of morbidity separately among Rwandan women, men, and children within n=650 households (500 trial households + 150 random subsidy households). Aim 3. Using a random-encouragement design, investigators will investigate causal relationships between randomized energy costs, measured energy usage, and estimated exposure to HAP among n=400 households (150 random subsidy households + 250 full subsidy treatment arm households).
A double blinded, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial to evaluate effectiveness of azithromycin prophylaxis on mortality in advanced HIV.