Table 1. Burden of disease and evidence from randomised controlled trials for main categories of human disease in sub-Saharan Africa Disease category Burden of disease in 2000 (1000 DALYs) No of trials (No before 1990) No of participants Ratio of burden of disease (1000 DALYs) Per trial Per participant Infectious and parasitic diseases 131 327 540 (183) 813 305 243 0.16 Respiratory infections  29 077 18 (7)  52 811 1615 0.55 Maternal conditions   5 691 85 (30)  25 148  67 0.23 Conditions arising during perinatal period  18 700 30 (8)  28 381 623 0.66 Nutritional deficiencies   8 389 105 (37) 111 922  80 0.07 Malignant neoplasms   8 114 46 (30) 128 786 176 0.06 Diabetes mellitus     522 13 (9)   1 276  40 0.41 Endocrine disorders   1 168 10 (8)     287 117 4.07 Neuropsychiatric conditions  15 788 41 (21)   3 580 385 4.41 Sense organ diseases   2 460 10 (2)     607 246 4.05 Cardiovascular diseases  13 390 99 (59)   5 648 135 2.37 Respiratory diseases   9 037 33 (13)   3 320 274 2.72 Digestive diseases   5 418 76 (48)   5 545  71 0.98 Genitourinary diseases   2 651 34 (15)   1 903  78 1.39 Skin diseases  * 6 (3)     407     Musculoskeletal diseases   1 404 27 (22)   1 536  52 0.91 Congenital anomalies   5 224 2 (0)   1 321 2612 3.95 Oral conditions     534 18 (8)   3 567  30 0.15 Injuries  58 352 31 (19)   2 887 1882 20.21  * Burden of disease considered small, no exact data given. Data are not shown for 48 trials (32 published before 1990) that examined topics such as analgesia and anaesthesia that cannot be categorised under the global burden of disease taxonomy.