@article{29093,
  keywords = {Sudan, Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), Clinical research},
  author = {El-Safi S and Chappuis F and Boelaert M},
  title = {The challenges of conducting clinical research on neglected tropical diseases in remote endemic areas in Sudan.},
  abstract = {<p>Most neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) occur in remote areas of low- and middle-income countries, where health systems are often poorly developed. Therefore, these neglected patients generally lack access to quality preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic care [1]. The difficulty to access NTD-endemic areas, challenging logistics, and the lack of skilled human resources in these areas are also major obstacles to conduct clinical research. We had to face these when conducting a good clinical practice/good clinical laboratory practice (GCP/GCLP)-compliant clinical study in eastern Sudan, a well-known endemic area for visceral leishmaniasis and other NTDs.<br />
We share here the challenges related to study preparation and implementation of this GCP/GCLP study that investigated the causes of persistent fever in a rural hospital located in Gedaref State in eastern Sudan. We think this type of paper may be of interest for researchers planning to conduct a clinical trial in a resource-limited setting as well as for funders of such research.</p>
},
  year = {2016},
  journal = {PLoS neglected tropical diseases},
  volume = {10},
  pages = {e0004736},
  url = {http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/asset?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0004736.PDF},
  doi = {10.1371/journal.pntd.0004736},
  language = {eng},
}