Une coalition mondiale pour promouvoir la recherche clinique sur le Covid-19 dans des environnements à ressources limitées

There is not yet a vaccine against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus infections 2 (SARSCoV-2) and no drug with proven clinical efficacy, although several candidates could be effective in prevention or treatment. It is encouraging that the response of the research community to the 2019 coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) has been strong. A review of clinical trial registries, as of March 24, 2020, identified 536 relevant clinical trials already registered. Of the 332 clinical trials linked to Covid-19, 188 are open for recruitment and 146 trials will be soon. These clinical trials are located in the countries most affected by Covid-19 over the past two months, in particular China and South Korea, as high-income countries in Europe and North America prepare most of the next clinical trials. Very few trials are planned in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Central and South America. The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases reported in resource-constrained settings is still relatively low, but the availability of diagnostic tests there is also limited and the number of Covid-19 cases looks set to increase dramatically in the coming weeks. The capacity of precarious health systems to manage an outbreak of severe pneumonia is limited, and the low availability of appropriate personal protective equipment for frontline health workers means that these key staff are susceptible to massive infection with the disease. Covid-19. A disruption or complete shutdown of these health care systems would result in high direct and indirect mortality, as care for all diseases would be affected.