The World Health Organization gave a green light to the use of experimental drugs to combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, with demand for—and questions about—untested treatments growing after two infected Americans received some.
Read more: Ebola Virus: Experimental Drugs Approved for Use in Fighting Outbreak in West Africa - WSJ
A panel of ethicists convened by the WHO
said on Tuesday that it is ethical to use the treatments given the size
of the outbreak, which has killed at least 1,013, and the challenges of
controlling it through regular measures that have stopped other Ebola
outbreaks.
"We find ourselves facing a
dilemma,"
Marie Paule Kieny,
a WHO assistant director-general, said about a handful of
medications and vaccines that have been developed but never tested in
humans. "Far too many lives are being lost right now."
Also
Tuesday, the Canadian government said it would donate 800 to 1,000
doses of experimental Ebola vaccine to the WHO for use in combatting the
outbreak. The vaccine has shown promise in animal research, said the
Public Health Agency of Canada. The vaccine was developed by scientists
at the agency's National Microbiology Laboratory. The Canadian
government owns the intellectual property and licensed the rights to a
U.S. company, BioProtection Systems Corp.
Read more: Ebola Virus: Experimental Drugs Approved for Use in Fighting Outbreak in West Africa - WSJ
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