Built around the national HAT control programmes of the most affected countries, the HAT Platform is a regional network to strengthen research capacity on human African trypanosomiasis (HAT). As such, the HAT Platform has a key role to play in facilitating the implementation of HAT therapeutic trials and, when new treatments become available, in supporting their use to treat patients.
Since its creation in 2005, the HAT Platform has closely followed the NECT study, and has supported training activities in DRC. In 2007, a physicians’ training to strengthen and harmonise medical examination of HAT patients and monitoring of adverse events was organised. Several ethics committee trainings to strengthen local ethics oversight of clinical research have also taken place.

HAT Platform members have eagerly awaited the final results of the NECT study as the national control programmes look forward to having improved treatment options for this fatal disease. At the platform’s upcoming annual meeting in mid November 2008, a full session will be dedicated to NECT. During this session, where NECT results will be reviewed, members will discuss how to support the EML application and what lessons have been learned in conducting a GCPquality trial in remote areas.
These lessons will be taken forward as the NECT-FIELD trial is prepared and can be applied by members for all future clinical research on HAT.



Core partners: STI; national HAT control programmes of most affected endem)ic countries; national and international research groups (eg. ITMA, INRB, CDC, and KARI-TRC); NGOs like MSF; FIND; WHO; TDR; regional networks (eg. EANETT, PABIN, AMANET) and DNDi.