Human African trypanosomiasis is approaching elimination, but the last-mile chal...
Africa Trials
23,873
US Trials
45
Total Africa
23,873
Nations
54
Key Finding
Africa hosts 23,873 trials across 54 nations with extreme geographic concentration.
Regional Comparison
Distribution Analysis
Inequality Profile
Temporal & Structural
Why It Matters
Human African trypanosomiasis is approaching elimination, but the last-mile challenge requires sustained trial investment in diagnostics and treatment for the most remote populations.
The Evidence 130 words · target 156
In the burden-versus-investment landscape of African health research, does the distribution of trypanosomiasis trials across African nations reveal a systematic research gap? This cross-sectional audit evaluated 23,873 African and 190,644 United States interventional trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov through April 2026. Investigators computed the Kaplan-Meier cumulative registration curve as the primary estimand using registry metadata for each nation. Africa registered 0 relevant trials compared to 45 in the United States, revealing an 45-fold absolute gap in research volume. Temporal analysis showed 17.1-fold growth in African trial registrations from 2000-2005 to 2021-2025, though the gap with high-income regions persisted. These results expose a fundamental mismatch between where disease burden falls and where research investment flows across Africa. Interpretation is limited by reliance on ClinicalTrials.gov alone, which may undercount locally registered African studies.
Sentence Structure
Question
In the burden-versus-investment landscape of African health research, does the distribution of trypanosomiasis trials across African nations reveal a systematic research gap?
Dataset
This cross-sectional audit evaluated 23,873 African and 190,644 United States interventional trials registered on ClinicalTrials.
Method
gov through April 2026.
Primary Result
Investigators computed the Kaplan-Meier cumulative registration curve as the primary estimand using registry metadata for each nation.
Robustness
Africa registered 0 relevant trials compared to 45 in the United States, revealing an 45-fold absolute gap in research volume.
Interpretation
Temporal analysis showed 17.
Boundary
1-fold growth in African trial registrations from 2000-2005 to 2021-2025, though the gap with high-income regions persisted.
Extra
These results expose a fundamental mismatch between where disease burden falls and where research investment flows across Africa.
Extra
Interpretation is limited by reliance on ClinicalTrials.
Extra
gov alone, which may undercount locally registered African studies.