A historic phase 3 trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of antimalarial drugs in the first trimester of pregnancy in Africa. Really!

One may cynically ask why is this trial started in Africa and not anywhere else? Are Africans used as guinea pigs? 

Certainly, Africans suffer severely from Malaria, but ???

Is it not enough to give antimalarial drugs to women before pregnancy?

"A historic phase 3 trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of antimalarial drugs in the first trimester of pregnancy—aimed at addressing a longstanding gap in malaria research—enrolled its first patient; the trial is being conducted in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Kenya. ..."

"

• Through the SAFIRE consortium, experts from Africa and Europe are closing a critical treatment gap for women in early pregnancy.
• Each year, over 12 million pregnant women are exposed to malaria in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Findings will inform global malaria treatment guidelines and help expand treatment options for pregnant women.

The Safety of Antimalarials in the FIRst trimEster (SAFIRE) consortium has enrolled its first patient in Mali, marking the official start of the first-ever Phase 3 adaptive platform trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of antimalarial drugs in the first trimester of pregnancy. ... "

"... An Africa-Europe partnership, SAFIRE is addressing long-standing gaps in malaria research and treatment for pregnant women, who have been systematically excluded from drug development programmes, depriving them of newer, better treatments. ..."

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First patient enrolled in historic Phase 3 clinical trial to treat malaria in first-trimester pregnancy "Major milestone in Africa’s first-ever study assessing malaria treatments in early pregnancy"

First patient enrolled in historic Phase 3 clinical trial to treat malaria in first-trimester pregnancy (original news release) "Major milestone in Africa’s first-ever study assessing malaria treatments in early pregnancy"