Desperate search for ebola cure
Print Edition
AS the world scrambles to stem the rapid spread of the killer Ebola virus, the World Health Organization was hosting a meeting to discuss the ethics of using experimental drugs.
The talks came as countries ravaged by the tropical disease in west Africa are gripped by panic, with drastic measures brought in to contain the epidemic causing transport chaos, price rises and food shortages, stoking fears people could die of hunger.
There is currently no available cure or vaccine for Ebola, one of the deadliest viruses known to man, and with the death toll fast approaching 1,000, the WHO has declared the latest outbreak a global public health emergency.
But the use of experimental drugs has opened up an intense ethical debate, and medical experts from around the world are joining WHO-hosted discussions to draft guidelines for using non-authorized medicines in emergencies such as Ebola.
Two Americans and a Spanish priest infected with the virus while working with the sick in Africa are being treated with an untested drug called ZMapp, which has reportedly shown promising results.
But the drug, made by private US company Mapp Pharmaceuticals, is still in an extremely early phase of development and only been tested previously on monkeys.
It is also in short supply, and its use on Western aid workers has sparked controversy and demands it be made available in Africa, where Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are the hardest hit nations.
“Is it ethical to use unregistered medicines to treat people, and if so, what criteria should they meet, and what conditions, and who should be treated?” said WHO assistant director-general Marie-Paule Kieny.
Kieny, who hosted Monday’s meeting, asked: “What is the ethical thing to do?”
While impoverished Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone account for the bulk of the cases, the latest outbreak has spread further afield, with Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, counting two deaths.
Numerous countries have imposed a raft of emergency measures, including flight bans or screening of passengers.
In the latest such move, the Ivory Coast announced it was banning all flights from the three hardest-hit nations.
Ebola causes fever and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding, and can be fatal in up to 90 percent of cases, according to the WHO.
The virus spreads by close contact with an infected person through bodily fluids such as sweat, blood and tissue.
The latest outbreak — which the WHO says is by far the worst since the virus was discovered four decades ago — has killed around 55-60 percent of those infected.
The WHO said on Saturday that clinical trials of vaccines against Ebola should begin soon and will likely be ready for widespread use by early next year.
“I think it’s realistic,” Kieny said.
As the WHO engages with pharmaceutical companies and governments to try to speed up the development process of vaccines and drugs, it is faced with a range of pressing ethical questions.
Should anyone infected with the virus be given experimental treatments?
And what about those who have been exposed, or who could easily become exposed due to their work, such as health care workers?
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