Back to Search
Start Over
COVID-19-related research in Africa: a cross-sectional review of the International Clinical Trial Registration Platform (ICTRP).
- Source :
-
Trials . 10/7/2021, Vol. 22 Issue 1, p1-8. 8p. 1 Black and White Photograph, 1 Diagram, 2 Charts, 2 Graphs. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- <bold>Objective: </bold>The declaration of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a pandemic in early 2020, has seen an upsurge in research globally to fill gaps in the epidemiology of the SARS-CoV-2 virus impact on health care and clinical management, as well as possible prevention and treatment modalities. Published literature on the different types of COVID-19 research conducted globally is varied and is particularly limited in Africa. This study sets out to describe the COVID-19-related research registered and conducted on the African continent.<bold>Methods: </bold>This is a cross-sectional study of all COVID-19-related studies available in the WHO's International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) repository. We extracted studies registered from March 1, 2020, to July 15, 2021. A descriptive analysis of the extracted data was performed, and the findings were presented.<bold>Results: </bold>At extraction, a total of 12,533 COVID-19-related studies were listed on the ICTRP portal. We included 9803 studies, after excluding 2060 duplicate records and 686 records without a site/country. While 9347 studies (96%) were conducted outside of Africa, only 456 studies (4%) were conducted in the African continent, of which 270 (59.2%) were interventional studies, and 184 (40.4%) were observational studies. About 80% of the studies were conducted in Egypt and South Africa, and most of these involved testing of drugs and biologicals.<bold>Conclusion: </bold>The African continent hosts considerably fewer COVID-19-related research compared to other parts of the world. This may have implications on scientific evidence available for implementing COVID-19 control efforts. There is, therefore, a need for local funding and ownership of research projects and north-south collaboration in research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 17456215
- Volume :
- 22
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Trials
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 152895405
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-021-05621-x