Epilepsy — Bridging the Childhood Epilepsy Treatment Gap in Africa
Citation(s)
de Boer HM, Moshe SL, Korey SR, Purpura DP ILAE/IBE/WHO Global Campaign Against Epilepsy: a partnership that works. Curr Opin Neurol. 2013 Apr;26(2):219-25. doi: 10.1097/WCO.0b013e32835f2037.
de Boer HM, Mula M, Sander JW The global burden and stigma of epilepsy. Epilepsy Behav. 2008 May;12(4):540-6. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2007.12.019. Epub 2008 Feb 14.
Mbuba CK, Newton CR Packages of care for epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries. PLoS Med. 2009 Oct;6(10):e1000162. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000162. Epub 2009 Oct 13.
Mbuba CK, Ngugi AK, Newton CR, Carter JA The epilepsy treatment gap in developing countries: a systematic review of the magnitude, causes, and intervention strategies. Epilepsia. 2008 Sep;49(9):1491-503. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1167.2008.01693.x. Epub 2008 Jun 13.
Wilmshurst JM, Kakooza-Mwesige A, Newton CR The challenges of managing children with epilepsy in Africa. Semin Pediatr Neurol. 2014 Mar;21(1):36-41. doi: 10.1016/j.spen.2014.01.005. Epub 2014 Jan 14.
Bridging the Childhood Epilepsy Treatment Gap in Africa (BRIDGE)
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.
