Green light for Ebola research drugs
13 Aug 2014
World Health Organization (WHO) considers the use of unregistered interventions to stop the West Africa Ebola epidemic.
Outbreaks of the Ebola virus can be contained using available interventions such as early detection and isolation, contact tracing and monitoring, and adherence to rigorous infection control.
However, the current Ebola epidemic that has claimed the lives of more than 900 people in West Africa must now be considered for unregistered interventions such as trial medicines, the WHO said.
“Ethical criteria must guide the provision of such interventions
WHO statement
On Monday, WHO convened a consultation to consider and assess the ethical implications for clinical decision-making of the potential use of developmental drugs.
According to a WHO statement: “Ethical criteria must guide the provision of such interventions. These include transparency about all aspects of care, informed consent, freedom of choice, confidentiality, respect for the person, preservation of dignity and involvement of the community.”
There is no current vaccine or cure for Ebola, but some pharmaceutical firms claim to have developed drugs that successfully fight and destroy the disease.
One such company, Mapp Biopharmaceutical, said its drug ZMapp was successfully administered to two American missionary workers who contracted the disease last month.
A statement on Mapp Biopharmaceutical’s website said: “ZMapp was first identified as a drug candidate in January 2014 and has not yet been evaluated for safety in humans. As such, very little of the drug is currently available”.
However, as the epidemic in West Africa is now the worst recorded case of Ebola outbreak in human history, a select number of unregistered interventions, such as ZMapp, are being considered as treatment for those with the disease.
