Community health workers in clinical research at the example of a phase IIIb/ IV antimalarial drug trial conducted in five African countries

TY - JOUR

T1 - Community health workers in clinical research at the example of a phase IIIb/ IV antimalarial drug trial conducted in five African countries

AU - Groger, Mirjam

AU - Lutete, Gaston Tona

AU - Assi, Serge-Brice

AU - Bigoga, Jude D

AU - Ntamabyaliro, Nsengi Y

AU - Arbe-Barnes, Sarah

AU - Shin, Jangsik

AU - Adegnika, Ayola A

AU - Ntoumi, Francine

AU - Kremsner, Peter G

AU - Ramharter, Michael

AU - Duparc, Stephan

AU - Borghini-Fuhrer, Isabelle

AU - Mombo-Ngoma, Ghyslain

N1 - Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

PY - 2023/12

Y1 - 2023/12

N2 - Global health, particularly in underserved settings can benefit immensely from well-trained community health workers (CHWs) supporting primary healthcare interventions. They can reduce morbidity and mortality of infectious diseases like malaria. Disease control programs can particularly benefit from a tight link between CHWs and communities and several studies have shown the benefit of the participation of non-facility-based CHWs in malaria control program activities for reducing malaria-related mortality in children. Because CHWs are often part of and trusted by served communities, they can also be an important resource to address challenges faced by their communities. Where post-marketing surveillance systems are underserved, they can relay important information about suspected safety signals and factors affecting therapeutic effectiveness in their communities. The CANTAM-Pyramax® trial was a phase IIIb/ IV cohort event monitoring study conducted at six centers in five African countries. To assess real-world effectiveness and safety of the anti-malarial pyronaridine-artesunate in 8560 malaria episodes, follow-up was not primarily conducted by medical staff but by specifically trained CHWs. This perspective paper discusses how the participation of a CHW workforce can be of benefit for effectiveness trials in limited-resource settings, using the example of the CANTAM-Pyramax trial.

AB - Global health, particularly in underserved settings can benefit immensely from well-trained community health workers (CHWs) supporting primary healthcare interventions. They can reduce morbidity and mortality of infectious diseases like malaria. Disease control programs can particularly benefit from a tight link between CHWs and communities and several studies have shown the benefit of the participation of non-facility-based CHWs in malaria control program activities for reducing malaria-related mortality in children. Because CHWs are often part of and trusted by served communities, they can also be an important resource to address challenges faced by their communities. Where post-marketing surveillance systems are underserved, they can relay important information about suspected safety signals and factors affecting therapeutic effectiveness in their communities. The CANTAM-Pyramax® trial was a phase IIIb/ IV cohort event monitoring study conducted at six centers in five African countries. To assess real-world effectiveness and safety of the anti-malarial pyronaridine-artesunate in 8560 malaria episodes, follow-up was not primarily conducted by medical staff but by specifically trained CHWs. This perspective paper discusses how the participation of a CHW workforce can be of benefit for effectiveness trials in limited-resource settings, using the example of the CANTAM-Pyramax trial.

KW - Child

KW - Humans

KW - Africa

KW - Antimalarials/therapeutic use

KW - Community Health Workers

KW - Malaria/drug therapy

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijid.2023.10.016

DO - 10.1016/j.ijid.2023.10.016

M3 - Short publication

C2 - 37871675

VL - 137

SP - 114

EP - 117

JO - INT J INFECT DIS

JF - INT J INFECT DIS

SN - 1201-9712

ER -