Challenges and prospects of clinical trials in Nigeria - Lessons from the WHO COVID-19 solidarity plus trial.

Conducting randomized clinical trials (RCTs) during a pandemic is essential for obtaining timely evidence on safe and effective treatments, but it presents numerous obstacles. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) sponsored multinational RCTs investigating repurposed drugs among hospitalized COVID-19 patients across countries with varying clinical research capacities. In Nigeria, several challenges hindered our progress, including inadequate infrastructure, initial insufficient investigator certification and expertise, and delays in securing regulatory approvals due to bureaucratic hurdles.

Research and product development for Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever: priorities for 2024-30.

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a widely distributed and potentially fatal tick-borne viral disease with no licensed specific treatments or vaccines. In 2019, WHO published an advanced draft of a research and development roadmap for CCHF that prioritised the development and deployment of the medical countermeasures most needed by CCHF-affected countries. This Personal View presents updated CCHF research and development priorities and is the product of broad consultation with a working group of 20 leading experts in 2023-24.

Measures to prevent and treat Nipah virus disease: research priorities for 2024-29.

Nipah virus causes highly lethal disease, with case-fatality rates ranging from 40% to 100% in recognised outbreaks. No treatments or licensed vaccines are currently available for the prevention and control of Nipah virus infection. In 2019, WHO published an advanced draft of a research and development roadmap for accelerating development of medical countermeasures, including diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines, to enable effective and timely emergency response to Nipah virus outbreaks.

Childhood craniopharyngioma: a retrospective study of children followed in Hôpital Universitaire de Bruxelles.

Introduction: Craniopharyngiomas (CPs) are benign brain tumors accounting for 5 - 11% of intracranial tumors in children. These tumors often recur and can cause severe morbidity. Postoperative radiotherapy efficiently controls and prevents progression and recurrence.