Background: Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are communicable diseases affecting more than a billion people living in developing countries. There are 18 NTDs defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) and a roadmap to prevent, control, eliminate and eradicate NTDs. Decisions regarding effective strategies will be based on results of controlled trials conducted in affected participants.

Objectives: Identify and describe randomised-controlled trials (RCTs) of NTDs conducted in Africa which are planned, ongoing, completed and published.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of Africa-based NTD trials registered on WHO International Clinical Trial Registry Platform (ICTRP) a platform for planned trials. Data extraction included trial location, intervention, participant age and funders. We used registry identifiers to search PubMed for publications. Descriptive analysis was conducted in MS Excel™.

Results: ICTRP was searched (11 January 2017) identifying 87 trials registered from 2005 to 2017. Current trial status indicates 62 completed, 1 withdrawn, 2 unknown status, 6 recruiting, 4 not recruiting and 7 ongoing. Sixty-nine studies evaluate an intervention and 18 are observational. Interventions include prevention (4), therapeutics (57), surgery (5), behavioural therapy (2) and education/training (1). Funding sources include local and international universities and governments, non-governmental organisations, and the pharmaceutical industry. For the 69 registered African trials, 29 were found on PubMed.

Conclusions: Mapping NTD clinical trial activity on ICTRP and searching for published trials results can provide data on planned, ongoing or completed trials for researchers, funders and policy makers. Current research focuses on identifying safe and efficacious treatment for NTDs.