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Capacity for clinical research on herbal medicines in Africa

Capacity for clinical research on herbal medicines in Africa
Capacity for clinical research on herbal medicines in Africa
An electronic survey was used to assess the training needs of clinical and public health researchers who have been involved, and/or plan to become involved, in clinical trials of herbal medicines in Africa. Over 90 researchers were contacted through pre-existing networks, of whom 58 (64%) responded, from 35 institutions in 14 African countries. Over half (57%) had already been involved in a clinical trial of an herbal medicine, and gave information about a total of 23 trials that have already been completed. Of these, only five had been published, and only one had resulted in a licensed product. Fifty-four (54) of the researchers were planning to conduct a clinical trial of an herbal medicine in the future, and gave information about 54 possible trials. Respondents outlined the following most commonly encountered difficulties when conducting clinical trials: resource constraints (including lack of funding, equipment, staff, and infrastructure); social acceptance of the clinical trial (including difficulty recruiting enough patients, poor rapport with traditional healers, and willingness of biomedical staff to be involved); herbal medicine supply (including insufficient cultivation, production, and quality control); lack of trained staff; and logistical issues in conducting trials. The topics in which researchers were least confident were Intellectual Property Rights issues, statistical issues, and issues related to Good Clinical Practice guidelines.
1075-5535
622-628
Willcox, Merlin
dad5b622-9ac2-417d-9b2e-aad41b64ffea
Siegfried, Nandi
f5f4b7d1-ae36-44ac-a433-1034173d0d27
Johnson, Quinton
7e40793b-a798-4c06-a553-a76596487ca3
Willcox, Merlin
dad5b622-9ac2-417d-9b2e-aad41b64ffea
Siegfried, Nandi
f5f4b7d1-ae36-44ac-a433-1034173d0d27
Johnson, Quinton
7e40793b-a798-4c06-a553-a76596487ca3

Willcox, Merlin, Siegfried, Nandi and Johnson, Quinton (2012) Capacity for clinical research on herbal medicines in Africa. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 18 (6), 622-628. (doi:10.1089/acm.2011.0963).

Record type: Article

Abstract

An electronic survey was used to assess the training needs of clinical and public health researchers who have been involved, and/or plan to become involved, in clinical trials of herbal medicines in Africa. Over 90 researchers were contacted through pre-existing networks, of whom 58 (64%) responded, from 35 institutions in 14 African countries. Over half (57%) had already been involved in a clinical trial of an herbal medicine, and gave information about a total of 23 trials that have already been completed. Of these, only five had been published, and only one had resulted in a licensed product. Fifty-four (54) of the researchers were planning to conduct a clinical trial of an herbal medicine in the future, and gave information about 54 possible trials. Respondents outlined the following most commonly encountered difficulties when conducting clinical trials: resource constraints (including lack of funding, equipment, staff, and infrastructure); social acceptance of the clinical trial (including difficulty recruiting enough patients, poor rapport with traditional healers, and willingness of biomedical staff to be involved); herbal medicine supply (including insufficient cultivation, production, and quality control); lack of trained staff; and logistical issues in conducting trials. The topics in which researchers were least confident were Intellectual Property Rights issues, statistical issues, and issues related to Good Clinical Practice guidelines.

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More information

Published date: July 2012
Organisations: Primary Care & Population Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 403752
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/403752
ISSN: 1075-5535
PURE UUID: 126aec10-b86c-4fa9-8a61-9beba2573892
ORCID for Merlin Willcox: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5227-3444

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 09 Dec 2016 14:31
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:57

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Contributors

Author: Merlin Willcox ORCID iD
Author: Nandi Siegfried
Author: Quinton Johnson

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